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Meet Kelly Hartog, Founding Editor of Scribblers on the Roof

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

I am thrilled to present the first installment of our promised interview with Kelly Hartog, founding editor of Scribblers on the Roof, an exciting new online forum for Jewish fiction and poetry.

Kelly Hartog was born in England, raised in Australia, moved to Israel and now lives in Los Angeles. She is the (self-described) quintessential wandering Jew. She has worked as a writer, editor and reporter for over 15 years and has freelanced for a variety of publications.

Erika Dreifus (ED): Why have you established Scribblers on the Roof, and why at this time?

Kelly Hartog (KH): I was going through a bunch of stories I had written and was sending them out to literary magazines, contests, etc. and discovered that I had several stories that were so intrinsically “Jewish” including ones with specific Hebrew terms, I realized they could not be published in anything but a Jewish publication. When I started looking for places to send them I realized that while there are some great places out there to submit your material that had fiction or poetry sections, there were none that were devoted exclusively to fiction and poetry with Jewish themes. And nowhere that allowed beginning writers to have a chance to showcase their work. So I thought, “If the mountain won’t come to Mohammed….” Although I guess in this case it was more “If the mountain won’t come to Moses…”

As to why now? The reason I was writing so many stories again is because I had lost a great deal of steady journalism and editing work over the last few months because of the recession. I took that extra time I had while looking for additional work and focused again on my love of fiction. It’s difficult to juggle journalism and fiction. Sometimes you’re so drained from writing for work all day you don’t want to tap into your creative brain come nighttime. But now I had the time. And that’s when I stumbled across these old stories with Jewish themes and how I came up with the idea for Scribblers. I had time to build the site, and learned some valuable skills creating this by myself from scratch. A steep learning curve indeed, but I’m now a better techie than when I started out!

Intrigued? Please return to My Machberet throughout the week to hear more from Kelly Hartog about Scribbers on the Roof, including what Kelly hopes readers will gain from the site, her future plans for Scribblers on the Roof, her very interesting writing background, and her own favorite reads!

Pre-Rosh Hashanah Notes from Around the Web

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

Here’s a really lovely post about the connections between a temple-based writing group (located in Tuscon, Ariz.) and the Holy Days.
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Michelle Cameron, a self-described “writer of Jewish-themed books,” guest-posts on my friend Lisa Romeo’s blog.
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The aforementioned Scribblers on the Roof Web site has launched! Check it out. And look forward to a Q&A with founder/editor Kelly Hartog, right here on My Machberet, in the not-too-distant future.
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Jeffrey Goldberg links to an outrageously hilarious spoof of Mad Men (retitled for these purposes “Meshugene Men“).
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Finally, and on a more somber note, the new issue of Brevity, which bills itself as “a journal of concise literary nonfiction,” is online, featuring an amazing piece, “Somebody Else’s Genocide,” by author Sherman Alexie.

Shanah Tovah, everyone! See you back here in a few days.

New Web site for Jewish-themed Writing to Launch

by Erika Dreifus on
2

Updated on September 10 to indicate that the new site’s editor is Los Angeles-based Kelly Hartog.

I want to thank Lawrence Schimel for forwarding this announcement to me. Please note: I have not been able to locate an active Web site yet, but I suspect that will come with the actual launch. Definitely something I’ll be watching for.

Dear All,

I’m excited to say that I’m about to launch my new Web site – Scribblers on the Roof!

Send submissions to submissions(at)jscribes.com or send your thoughts, views, ideas to editor(at)jscribes(dot)com. Submission details are below – keep reading!

Scribblers on the Roof was born out of a need for a dedicated place for both established and emerging writers of fiction and poetry with Jewish themes to submit their work. While there are some wonderful Jewish publications that have small sections for for creative writing they are few and far between and they are not dedicated solely to the craft of poetry and prose.

There are also many many fine “non-Jewish” literary publications where writers can submit their work. However, sometimes a piece may contain certain references or even words in Hebrew or Yiddish that a non-Jewish audience may simply not understand.

Scribblers on the Roof is also dedicated to allowing Jewish writers to connect with one another, and support and encourage each other in their literary pursuits. We aim to bring together writers of Jewish poetry and fiction from around the globe, showcase their talents, provide resources for their work, as well as host competitions, and challenge writers to delve into their Jewish backgrounds.

Launch is in September 09. Please submit your work and be part of our official launch!

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES!

* Scribblers on the Roof welcomes unsolicited submissions of original fiction and poetry only.
* All submissions must have identifiable Jewish themes or content.
* You may submit previously published work only if you have retained the rights to your piece. Please state where and when the piece was previously published and confirm that you have permission to publish on Scribblers on the Roof.
* Scribblers on the Roof accepts simultaneous submissions
* Fiction submissions may be anywhere from 500-5,000 words.
* Fiction submissions over 1,500 words deemed suitable for publication will be serialized over a period of weeks depending on the length of the story.
* Poetry submissions must be no more than 4 pages.
* Scribblers on the Roof only accepts electronic submissions
* Send submissions to submissions(at)jscribes.com
* All submissions must be in a Word Doc (.doc), double-spaced and in 12-point font.
* Please include your name, email address and word count, and a short, relevant biography (no more than two lines) on a separate page.
* If your piece is accepted for publication, you will be notified by email.

New Program for Creative Writing Semester in Israel

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

Starting in February, Bar-Ilan University will run a fully-accredited creative writing semester in Israel in English for undergraduates. According to its Web site, the program “combines the nurturing of students’ creative talents with the intensive exploration of the relationships among writing, personal identity, Jewish Studies and the experience of living in Israel.” (via Judy Labensohn)

JCC Jewish Literary Festival and Writing Contest

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

The Washington DCJCC will present the Hyman and Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival October 18-29, 2009. In conjunction with the festival, the JCC is running a writing contest:

“Coming-of-age stories are a genre unto themselves. Whether it’s young love in Philip Roth’s novella Goodbye, Columbus, teenage friendship in The Chosen, or the precocious musings of The Diary of Anne Frank, the stories are enduring.

Jewish tradition tells us that we come of age at 12 or 13, but what was your true turning point? Tell us the story of that first transformative moment.

A selection committee will choose ten entries to honor during the Festival and online. Submissions will be considered in two categories: 1) under 18 years and 2) 18 years and over. Send submissions of 250 words or less to litfest[at]washingtondcjcc[dot]org by September 30, 2009. The winning entries will be published on the Washington DCJCC website.”

You’ll find the announcement here.

(I learned about the festival and the contest via the Foundation for Jewish Culture‘s E-Newsletter, a worthwhile resource!)