Doug Holder, a mainstay of the Greater Boston poetry community, will be appearing on Zoom, hosted by IAWE chair Karen Alkalay-Gut, Sunday 10 March at 7:30 P.M. Israel time. See the invitation below (or attached). To register for the program, click this link.
When I first came to Israel, well over 50 years ago, I really believed that in the Jewish land we could now be international. We could transcend religion and culture and become a part of the world.
But the present wave of antisemitism has put the last nail on the coffin of that theory. We’re not part of the world – we’re just Jews who are one step away from annihilation. And, as they say in Yiddish, noch mit a nigun – and with a song yet – with great enthusiasm and joy.
So it makes sense that we’re turning inward and examining our own literature, rather than the culture of the world. And tonight I joined the launch of Lyre
https://www.biupress.org/index.php/lyre/article/view/101/81
initially because one of the editors who is a close friend, Chanita Goodblatt, forced me to write an article for the initial issue. But it’s good – and I’m proud to be a part of it.
jewish literature today – feb 18, 2024 Read Post »
You are a shower of gold
and withhold
the weight of your beauty
Though all my skin is touched
with gentle shine
gold so fine
sifts through flesh like lace
leaving no trace
of the fullness of knowing
until long after
the sowing
Self portrait
At four I was brought to be photographed
in a studio near where my father worked.
Perhaps it was a favor, perhaps a gift,
But definitely a tremendous event
because my mother fussed so much.
And the new dress impressed me so intensely
I ceased my eternal weeping.
To make me smile for perpetuity,
the man put a yellow basket in my hand,
seated me on a regal pillowed bench,
then without straightening my sleeves
said ‘watch the birdie’ and flashed
my moment of joy.
self portrait – feb 5, 2024 Read Post »
international Holocaust Remembrance Day Read Post »
A necklace
Lost in a looted
Burnt home
In a kibbutz
Was found
Last week
In a burnt home
In Gaza
The IAWE is happy to invite you to join our Zoom event with the remarkable Joy Ladin in conversation with Karen Alkalay-Gut.
Sunday January 14,
19:45 Israel Time / 12:45 p.m. EST
To register, please click here.
Ladin is a poet and scholar, known for her work exploring Judaism and gender identity. The author of ten books of poetry, including 2022’s Shekhinah Speaks, National Jewish Book Award winner The Book of Anna, and Lambda Literary Award finalists Impersonation and Transmigration, Joy Ladin’s forthcoming books are a poetry collection entitled Family and a collection of selected essays on gender called Once Out of Nature. She has also published a memoir of gender transition, Through the Door of Life, and a groundbreaking work of trans theology, The Soul of the Stranger: Reading God and Torah from a Transgender Perspective. Her work is available at www.wordpress.joyladin.com.
Israel Association of Writers in English (IAWE)
P.O. Box 39385
6139301 Tel Aviv
Email | Website | Facebook | YouTube
Karen Alkalay-Gut
https://karenalkalay-gut.com/tel-aviv-blog/
invitation for Zoom Read Post »
Ronen Shapira does it again – tries to capture the way we send our mixed messages, needing comfort but angry that the comfort can’t be a fulfillment:
