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DCJCC’s Jewish Literary Festival will run for ten days starting this Sunday

dcjcc
1529 16th Street, NW

From a press release:

“From October 18-28, 2015, the Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival will explore themes of identity, family and community, from Israel to Eastern Europe to the United States, and around the world. This year’s readings, discussions and film screenings include a look at an important chapter of baseball history, the long tradition of Jewish lawyers and one woman’s quest to recover property that her family lost in the Holocaust. The Festival will include prominent names such as Etgar Keret, Alan Dershowitz, Shalom Auslander, Jami Attenberg, Michael Pollan, Dina Gold and many others. With programming for all ages, the Festival will also include two exciting events for families with young children.

On Sunday, October 18, the Festival opens with one of Israel’s most extraordinary writers, Etgar Keret, discussing his new memoir, The Seven Good Years – a powerful blend of personal story and national narrative. Then, on Monday, October 19, the DCJCC partners with the PEN/Faulkner reading series to host a trio of acclaimed novelists – Boris Fishman, David Bezmozgis and Lara Vapnyar – to share their stories from the Eastern European literary diaspora.

America’s “ethical-eating guru,” Michael Pollan, joins the festival on Wednesday, October 21 for a conversation about our challenging and changing relationships with food, the environment and sustainability. On Sunday, October 25, Alan Dershowitz will illustrate the long history of Jewish lawyers, from Abraham to today. And, closing the Festival on Wednesday, October 28, Shalom Auslander tells us how an anxious author with a dark sense of humor and no TV experience became the creator and showrunner for the Showtime series HAPPYish.

On Tuesday, October 27, the free Local Author Fair will give festival-goers an opportunity to meet and listen to a selection of up-and-coming area authors. Families are invited to join the festival on Sunday, October 25 for two events: The Great Children’s Read, with crafts, sing-a-longs, puppet shows and a book fair; and the Flamingo Rampant Storytelling Dinner Party, an event featuring racially diverse, feminist and LGBTQ-positive children’s stories.

Other Festival highlights include: former sports columnist John Klima discussing baseball on the home front during World War II on October 20; former BBC investigative journalist, Dina Gold, recounting her legal battle to recover a Berlin property taken from her family in the Holocaust; director Aviv Talmor exploring his family history, discovering a secret that rocks the Israeli literary community in the film I Am Bialik, screened on October 24; and on October 26, three acclaimed female novelists – Mary Morris, Jami Attenberg and Jessamyn Hope – reflecting on their experiences as writers in the 21st Century.

More about the Jewish Literary Festival

The Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival presents the year’s best in Jewish arts and literature by both emerging and established authors from Washington and across the world. A program of the DCJCC’s Morris Cafritz Center for the Arts, the Festival takes place annually and features engaging author panels, readings, and talks for lovers of fiction, history, politics, television, children’s stories and much more. Tickets are available online at www.dcjcc.org/litfest and several events are free. Discounts are available for DCJCC members, students with ID and seniors. A full festival listing is below. All events take place at the Washington DCJCC, unless otherwise noted.

Full Festival Lineup

OPENING NIGHT: Etgar Keret – The Seven Good Years: A Memoir
Sunday, October 18, 2015
7:00pm
Washington DCJCC
1529 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Hailed as the voice of young Israelis and one of Israel’s most radical and extraordinary writers, Etgar Keret is internationally acclaimed for his short stories. His memoir, a sad-funny masterpiece that blends the personal and the national, begins with the birth of his first child and ends with his father’s death – the seven good years. Keret has received the Book Publishers Association’s Platinum Prize, France’s Chevalier medallion of The Order of Arts and Letters and Israel’s Prime Minister’s Prize. “Etgar Keret is a genius…” –The New York Times
Opening night is sponsored by Tamara and Harry Handelsman

Tickets are $25; DCJCC Member/Student/Senior $20; VIP $50 (Priority Seating & Signing)

Replacement Lives: David Bezmozgis, Boris Fishman & Lara Vapnyar In Conversation
Monday, October 19, 2015
7:30pm
Folger Shakespeare Library
201 East Capitol Street, SE
Washington, DC 20003

In the first event of the 2015-16 PEN/Faulkner reading series, acclaimed novelists David Bezmozgis, Boris Fishman and Lara Vapnyar will read from their newest works and discuss writing as part of a burgeoning Eastern European literary diaspora. The conversation will touch on themes of language, religion and identity, as well as the tensions between departure and arrival, Old World and New World.

In Partnership with PEN/Faulkner

Tickets are $15

John Klima – The Game Must Go On: Hank Greenberg, Pete Gray, and the Great Days of Baseball on the Home Front in WWII
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
7:30pm
Washington DCJCC
1529 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
In the early days of World War II, FDR proclaimed that Major League Baseball would continue despite wartime restrictions. Many star players served in the military, including Hank Greenberg, and they were replaced by a collection of misfit players and unlikely greats. Former Los Angeles Daily News baseball columnist John Klima describes how America’s favorite pastime triumphed – and perhaps even helped the country win the war. In conversation with former The Washington Post sports editor and columnist George Solomon.
Supported by the Chaim Kempner Collection Library Fund, the Chaim Kempner Author Series brings authors of recently-published books to the DCJCC for the learning and enjoyment for the entire community.
Tickets are $12; DCJCC Member/Student/Senior: $10

An Evening With Michael Pollan
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
8:00pm
Lisner Auditorium
730 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052

For 25 years, Michael Pollan has written about the places where the human and natural worlds intersect, challenging and changing how Americans relate to food. An “ethical-eating guru” and fierce advocate of sustainable living, Michael Pollan is one of the most compelling and influential voices on subjects ranging from the environment to agribusiness to health. Join us for a conversation with the influential author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Cooked, In Defense of Food and The Botany of Desire.

Presented by GW Lisner as part of the Washington DCJCC’s Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival

Tickets are $40; GW Students: $34

Dina Gold – Stolen Legacy: Nazi Theft and the Quest for Justice at Krausenstrasse 17/18, Berlin
Thursday, October 22, 2015
7:30pm
Washington DCJCC
1529 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Former BBC investigative journalist and television producer Dina Gold recounts her legal battle to reclaim a large building in Berlin originally built and owned by her prominent German ancestors. After a forced sale in 1937, ownership was transferred to the Reichsbahn, Hitler’s railway. Gold’s gripping, true life story is the first book about a successful restitution of real property seized by the Nazis in Germany.
Sponsored by the Covensky Fund
FREE

Film: I Am Bialik
Saturday, October 24, 2015
7:30 pm
Washington DCJCC
1529 16th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036

The story of Aviv Talmor, a frustrated poet and literature teacher is true – mostly. When the father he never knew dies, Aviv begins to research the man’s past. He unexpectedly discovers evidence that his grandfather was the illegitimate son of Israeli painter Ira Yan and national poet Haim Nahman Bialik. Israel’s literary community is shocked by the claims, which threaten to impact Bialik’s reputation.

Dir. Aviv Talmor, 77min, Israel, 2014. In Hebrew with English subtitles

Tickets are $12

The Great Children’s Read
Sunday, October 25, 2015
10:00 am
Washington DCJCC
1529 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Bring books to life during story time with Lesléa Newman, author of My Name is Aviva and winner of the 2015 Sugarman Family Children’s Book Award. Join us for crafts, songs and a puppet show along with a book fair featuring a wide selection of Jewish and general interest children’s books. Plus, we have a special guest coming: Clifford the Big Red Dog™! Please bring a new or gently used book to donate to children in need.
Sponsored by the Dweck Family, with additional support from the Jewish Primary Day School of the Nation’s Capital
Tickets are $12 per family; DCJCC Member/Student/Senior: $10
Best suited for children up to age 5

Flamingo Rampant Story Telling Dinner Party
Sunday, October 25, 2015
4:00 pm
Washington DCJCC
1529 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Bring the kids for fun new stories and activities with S. Bear Bergman from Flamingo Rampant—a micro-press dedicated to better books about gender. Flamingo Rampant books are racially diverse, feminist, LGBTQ-positive and let all kids see themselves as part of the story. Gobble up dinner and get a taste of these unique stories that bring visibility and positivity to children’s reading.
In partnership with GLOE
Tickets are $5, dinner included
Best suited for ages 4-8

Alan Dershowitz – Abraham: The World’s First (But Certainly Not Last) Jewish Lawyer
Sunday, October 25, 2015
7:30 pm
Washington DCJCC
1529 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036

One of America’s best-known attorneys and The New York Times bestselling author, Alan Dershowitz, gives us a no-holds-barred history of Jewish lawyers. From the biblical Abraham, who argued with God on behalf of the doomed sinners of Sodom, through modern-day advocates who have changed the world by challenging the status quo, defending the unpopular and following the biblical command to pursue justice, Dershowitz profiles Jewish lawyers well-known and unheralded, admired and excoriated, victorious and defeated—and, of course, gives us some glimpses into the passionate practice of law, Dershowitz-style.

This evening is sponsored by David Bruce Smith and GW’s Jewish Literature Live

Tickets are $30; DCJCC Member/ Student/ Senior: $25; VIP $50 (Priority Seating & Signing plus Access to a VIP pre-event reception)

Mary Morris, Jami Attenberg & Jessamyn Hope – Intrepid Time Travelers: New Fiction
Monday, October 26, 2015
7:30 pm
Washington DCJCC
1529 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Novelists Mary Morris (The Jazz Palace), Jami Attenberg (Saint Mazie), and Jessamyn Hope (Safekeeping) sit down with author Michelle Brafman to discuss the common themes of their celebrated new works, which take us on journeys through space and time, and to reflect on their experiences as writers in the 21st Century.

Tickets are $12; DCJCC Member/ Student/ Senior: $10

Local Author Fair: Discover A New Book
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
7:30 pm
Washington DCJCC
1529 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Meet and greet authors at our annual Local Author Fair! A selection of DC-area authors will each be given three minutes to tell you about their books. Buy a locally-grown book and network with area readers and writers at a wine and cheese reception.

Authors: Please apply by September 21 to be considered at http:///www.dcjcc.org/litfest

Sponsored by the Jacob and Charlotte Lehrman Foundation with additional support from The Writer’s Center and the Johns Hopkins Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Program in Jewish Studies

This event is free, but an RSVP is strongly encouraged; RSVP at http:///www.dcjcc.org/litfest

CLOSING NIGHT: Shalom Auslander Is HAPPYish
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
7:30 pm
Washington DCJCC
1529 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036

How does an anxious author with a dark sense of humor and no TV experience become the creator and showrunner for the Showtime series HAPPYish? Auslander explores “violating his bubble” in the name of bringing this darkly funny show to life. Auslander is the author of the short story collection, Beware of God, the novel Hope: A Tragedy and his angry and humorous memoir, Foreskin’s Lament. He is a regular contributor to NPR’s “This American Life” and has written for The New Yorker and The New York Times.

This annual lecture is made possible by a generous endowment from Tamara and Harry Handelsman in memory of Tamara Handelsman’s brother, Gerald L. Bernstein.

Tickets are $25; DCJCC Member/ Senior/ Student: $20; VIP: $50 (Priority Seating & Signing)”

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