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News Release

Last modified: Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Leading Jewish writers to speak at Indiana University

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 15, 2013

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Four noted contemporary Jewish writers, including the acclaimed Israeli author A.B. Yehoshua, will visit Indiana University this semester. They will present public talks or readings and meet with students in an undergraduate course on American Jewish literature.

All the public talks will take place in State Room East in the Indiana Memorial Union. The writers and the dates and times of their talks are:

• Dara Horn, 5 p.m. Jan. 28
• David Bezmozgis, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 11
• A.B. Yehoshua, 5 p.m. March 18
• Allegra Goodman, 5 p.m. April 17

The visits were arranged by Jeffrey Veidlinger, director of the Robert A. and Sandra S. Borns Jewish Studies Program, and John Schilb, professor of English and Culbertson Chair of Writing in the College of Arts and Sciences, in connection with a course Schilb is teaching this semester: L241 American Jewish Writers. Schilb said the four writers provide varied perspectives on the modern Jewish experience and share a concern with themes of loss, wandering, creative endurance and the rebuilding of community.

Funding for the series comes from the Dorit and Gerald Paul Program in Jewish Culture and the Arts, part of the Borns Jewish Studies Program at IU Bloomington. A generous donation from the Pauls has allowed the Borns Jewish Studies Program to bring to campus leading and up-and-coming artists, including musicians, architects, actors and playwrights.

In addition to the public talks, Yehoshua will take part in a public screening of Eran Riklis' film "The Human Resources Manager," adapted from Yehoshua's novel "A Woman of Jerusalem." The screening will take place at 7 p.m. March 19 at IU Cinema.

About the writers:

Dara Horn received a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Harvard University in 2006, studying Hebrew and Yiddish. In 2007 she was chosen by Granta magazine as one of the Best Young American Novelists. Her novels include "In the Image" and "The World to Come." She has taught courses in Jewish literature and Israeli history at Harvard and at Sarah Lawrence College and has lectured at universities and cultural institutions throughout the United States and Canada.

Her most recent novel, "All Other Nights," published in April 2009, was selected as an Editors' Choice in The New York Times Book Review. She lives with her husband, daughter and two sons in her native New Jersey.

David Bezmozgis is an award-winning writer and filmmaker whose stories have appeared in numerous publications including The New Yorker and Harper's. His first book, "Natasha and Other Stories," was published in 2004 and was subsequently translated into 15 languages. "The Free World," his first novel, was a New York Times Notable Book for 2011.

In 2010, Bezmozgis was included in The New Yorker's 20 Under 40 issue, celebrating the 20 most promising fiction writers under the age of 40. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow, a MacDowell Fellow, a Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Fellow at the New York Public Library and a Radcliffe Fellow.

A.B. Yehoshua was born in Jerusalem. After studying Hebrew literature and philosophy at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he started a teaching career. From 1963 to 1967, he lived and taught in Paris; he is now professor of literature at Haifa University. Yehoshua has published numerous novels, short stories, plays and essays and is one of the best internationally known Israeli authors.

He has received many literary prizes in Israel and abroad, including the Brenner Prize, the Bialik Prize, the Alterman Prize, England's "Best Novel of the Year" award, the Koret Jewish Book Award and the National Jewish Book Award. His novel "Five Seasons" was named one of the 10 most important books since the creation of the state of Israel. His books, including "Early in the Summer of 1970," "Mr. Mani," "Open Heart," "The Lover" and "A Late Divorce," have been published abroad in 28 languages.

Allegra Goodman is the author of "Intuition," "Paradise Park," "Kaaterskill Falls," "The Family Markowitz" and "Total Immersion." "The Other Side of the Island" is her first book for younger readers. Her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Commentary, Ploughshares, Prize Stories: the O. Henry Awards and Best American Short Stories. Her essays and reviews have appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The New Republic, The Boston Globe and The American Scholar.

Raised in Honolulu, Goodman studied English and philosophy at Harvard and received a Ph.D. in English literature from Stanford. She lives with her family in Cambridge, Mass., where she is writing a new novel.

This program is free and open to the public. If you have a disability and need assistance, please contact the Borns Jewish Studies Program for assistance at 812-855-0453 or iujsp@indiana.edu.

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