Via the Jewish Literary Festival.
Let’s get started on that resolution for the year 5775 (or 2014, if you’re running behind) to be more literary. The Washington, D.C. Jewish Community Center is hosting the annual Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival from October 19th through the 29th, bringing together authors and attendees in a variety of events. The festival’s themes are universal, focusing on family, love, identity, and self-exploration.
Festival events take place at the DCJCC unless otherwise noted, and feature discussions, a concert, a film, storytelling performances, a kid’s day, and more. A full lineup and information on purchasing a festival pass or individual tickets can be found here.
Several of the events are free, including the local author fair that kicks off the festival on Sunday, October 19th. You can meet-and-greet and wine-and-cheese with 15 D.C.-area writers at 7 p.m. The featured author will be Catherine Zacks Gildenhorn, editor of Redefining Moments: End of Life Stories for Better Living. Other authors include:
Click here for the entire author guest list, and RSVP instructions.
Additional festival highlights:
Tuesday, October 21, 8 p.m.: Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Art Spiegelman presents “WORDLESS!“, a hybrid of slides, talk, and original music. The performance “delves into Spiegelman’s premise around comics, their history, and their capacity for images to go right to the brain as wordless messages.” It will take place at George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium.
Wednesday, October 22, 7:30 p.m.: In “Like Mother, Like Daughter“, mother-daughter novelist pair Hilma and Meg Wolitzer will discuss their writing and family influences with Deborah Tannen, author of You’re Wearing That?: Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation.
Thursday, October 23, 7:30 p.m.: Fifth Heaven, directed by Dina Zvi-Riklis, is an Israeli film about a 13-year-old who moves into an orphanage for Jewish girls in 1944. It’s set in British-controlled Palestine, and she “develops forbidden feelings for an anti-British resistance fighter.”
Saturday, October 25, 8 p.m.: See renowned sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer and Jerome E. Singerman talk about their book Myths of Love: Echoes of Ancient Mythology in the Modern Romantic Imagination. The book “examines the underlying psychology of ancient myths”, and their influence on how we think about love today.
Monday, October 27, 7:30 p.m.: For eternal Nickelodeon fans, there’s Mathew Klickstein’s Slimed!: An Oral History of Nickelodeon’s Golden Age. Klickstein “interviewed hundreds of Nickelodeon insiders, including actors Melissa Joan Hart and Kenan Thompson, to uncover the origins of green slime” among other mysteries. Nickelodeon-themed trivia will follow.
Tuesday, October 28, 7:30 p.m.: The story of the MS St. Louis, the boat filled with Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany that was denied entry into the U.S. and Cuba, is haunting. Local author and radio personality Martin Goldsmith retraced the journey his grandfather and his uncle made from the St. Louis in Alex’s Wake: A Voyage of Betrayal and a Journey of Remembrance.
Wednesday, October 29, 7:30 p.m.: On closing night, bestselling author Gary Shteyngart (Super Sad True Love Story and The Russian Debutante’s Handbook) talks about his new book, Little Failure: A Memoir, with NPR’s “Voice of Books” Alan Cheuse. Little Failure stars “a lovable, stumbling, lusting hero” (Shteyngart) exploring “what it means to be an immigrant, a son, an American, a boyfriend and a writer.”
A festival pass is $100, or ticket prices range from $11 to $35 depending on the event. Discounts are available for DCJCC members, students with ID, and seniors.
