Israeli Flash Fiction Reviewed on Words Without Borders

Posted by Naomi Firestone

Israel novelist and short-story writer Alex Epstein’s flash fiction collection, Blue Has No South, is reviewed by Jonathan Blitzer…continue reading here.

Review Round-Up

Posted by Naomi Firestone

Reviews from around the web…

continue reading here.

REMINDER: Pen World Voices Festival

Posted by Naomi Firestone

If you’re in NYC or the NYC-area, don’t forget to buy tickets to these great events with Israeli authors…

(If you’re interested in attending the April 29th conversation between Eshkol Nevo and Michael Orthofer, please use discount code pwv10 to receive 20% off)

MONDAY, APRIL 26

7 p.m. The Diversity Test: Gender and Literature in Translation

Participants: Lorraine Adams, Alex Epstein, Andrea Levy, and Norman Rush; Moderated by Claire Messud.

WNYC Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, 44 Charlton Street

Tickets: $20/$15 PEN Members, 212.352.0255 or www.ovationtix.com

Join novelist Claire Messud and a prestigious panel for a lively debate on gender, culture, and literature in translation. Joining Messud are National Book Award winner Norman Rush, novelist and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Lorraine Adams, Orange Prize winner Andrea Levy, and Israeli novelist Alex Epstein, who take on some of the toughest questions facing world literature today. >>More Information

Cosponsored by WNYC Jerome L. Greene Performance Space and Guernica Magazine

THURSDAY, APRIL 29

7 p.m. Homesick: Eshkol Nevo in Conversation with Michael Orthofer

Participants: Eshkol Nevo and Michael Orthofer

Center for Jewish History. 15 West 16th Street, Tickets: $15/$10 PEN and Center for Jewish History Members www.smarttix.com or 212.868.4444

Eshkol Nevo is one of Israel’s most exciting new voices. Since 2008, he has been the chosen artist of Israel’s Cultural Excellence Foundation — one of Israel’s highest recognitions for excellence in the arts. He’ll be joined by Michael Orthofer, managing editor at The Complete Review and its Literary Saloon for a discussion about art, home, living under threat, and of course the art of breaking up. >>More Information

Cosponsored by the Center for Jewish History and the Office of Cultural Affairs, Consulate General of Israel in New York

FRIDAY, APRIL 30

3 p.m. Utopia and Dystopia: Geographies of the Possible

Participants: Inga Kuznetsova, Jonathan Lethem, Eshkol Nevo, and Andrzej Stasiuk

Elebash Recital Hall CUNY Graduate Center 365 Fifth Avenue—Free!

These writers from Russia, the US, Israel, and Poland will consider these among many questions: Can the novel — in this ironic age — still give voice to such strong feelings about societies? Are ideals themselves— whether uplifting or despairing — incompatible with the novelist’s inquisitive tack? And isn’t every utopia someone else’s dystopia? >>More Information

Cosponsored by the Martin E. Segal Theatre, The Graduate Center, CUNY and Bookforum

FRIDAY, APRIL 30

3:30 p.m. Short Stories: Past, Present, and Future

Participants: Preston L. Allen, Alex Epstein, Alexander Hemon, Yiyun Li, and Martin Solares; Moderated by Deborah Treisman

Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue—Free!

What virtues and challenges are unique to the short story? How flexible is the form? Join acclaimed practitioners of the form from Bosnia, Israel, China, Mexico, and the United States, for a conversation with The New Yorker fiction editor, Deborah Treisman about the past, present, and future of the short story. >>More Information

Cosponsored by The American-Scandinavian Foundation

FRIDAY, APRIL 30

8 p.m. The Translation Slam

Participants: Alex Epstein, Assaf Gavron, Barbara Harshav, Cathy Park Hong, Thomas Pletzinger, and Martin Pollack; Moderated by Michael F. Moore.

Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery Street

Tickets: $10/$5 PEN Members at the door

Back for the third year running is the fast, fascinating, and fun Translation Slam. Joining us for tonight’s tussle are Thomas Pletzinger from Germany and Martin Pollack from Austria who will be translating Cathy Park Hong, and Assaf Gavron and Barbara Harshav, who will tackle the work of Alex Epstein in Hebrew. >>More Information

SATURDAY, MAY

12:30 p.m. War and the Novel

Participants: Bernardo Atxaga, Filip Florian, Assaf Gavron, and Atiq Rahimi; Moderated by Susan Kunklin.

Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue—Free!

Why have novelists so long been drawn to the subject of war? And how do writers engage with this fraught and complicated subject? Join novelists from Afghanistan, Spain, Romania, and Israel as they discuss these and many other questions. >>More Information

Cosponsored by The American-Scandinavian Foundation

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Updates on Israeli authors in NYC

Posted by Naomi Firestone

The PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature is coming up April 26 to May 2, 2010 in NYC…continue reading here.

Israelis in the spring

Posted by Naomi Firestone

Liran Golod, the Director of Visual Arts & Lit from the Israeli Consulate in NY, just shared a wonderful list of Israeli authors who will be coming to the States this spring…continue reading here.