Dear Scribblers,
Firstly, congratulations to the five finalists selected for the fourth annual Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature. The $100,000 prize provided by the Jewish Book Council is a prestigious award and the winner will be announced at the end of January 2010, with the awards ceremony taking place on March 31 in Jerusalem.
This year’s finalists are:
Lila Corwin Berman – Speaking of Jews: Rabbis, Intellectuals, and the Creation of an American Public Identity (University of California Press)
Ari Y. Kelman – Station Identification: A Cultural History of Yiddish Radio in the United States (University of California Press)
Kenneth B. Moss – Jewish Renaissance in the Russian Revolution (Harvard University Press)
Danya Ruttenberg – Surprised by God: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Religion (Beacon Press)
Sarah Abrevaya Stein – Plumes: Ostrich Feathers, Jews, and a Lost World of Global Commerce (Yale University Press).
We also want to congratulate Scribblers contributor Cynthia Edlow. Her debut poetry collection, The Day Judge Spencer Learned the Power of Metaphor, has been accepted for publication from Salmon Poetry. Edlow told Scribblers, “I am over the moon with joy! I truly believe the word “forthcoming” is the most beautiful word in the English language. We published Edlow’s poem The Dry Cleaner’s Daughter, which will appear in her collection. We’re always interested in any news from our contributors, so if you’ve just written your first Haiku, signed a multi-billion dollar book contract, overcome writers block, or had your short story turned into a performance art piece, do let us know.
This week’s contributions include a poem from the renowned Velveteen Rabbi – Rachel Barenblat, entitled Instead of Sons (Vayechi) and a short story – The Lost Rabbi - all the way from Canada (Prince Edward Island to be exact) from the prolific pen of J. J. Steinfeld. Enjoy reading these wonderful selections.
I’ve just returned from San Francisco after taking part in National Novel Writing Month’s – The Night of Writing Dangerously – and had an absolute blast. Ate way too much sugar, typed up a storm and managed to find some time to see the delights of San Francisco. A beautiful city and one well worth visiting in the coming year. And if you do happen to be visiting or in fact live there (lucky you) be sure to head out to some of the wonderful events taking place as part of the 2010 Lectures and Literature at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco.
Among the highlights will be Dr. Abraham Verghese a doctor/author, who was recently featured on NPR, in a piece on medical practitioners who also happen to be writers. It’s a wonderful piece, reminiscent of Scribblers’ own doctor/writer Leah Kaminsky, whose story – Silent Night – touched many of our readers.
For more information on the lectures and literature series and the other wonderful Jewish authors participating, visit www.jccsf.org/arts.
As usual, keep scribbling!
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