Liam Hoare
The Joys of Amos Oz at 75
Everyone goes through the process of trying on different writers to find one that fits. For Liam Hoare it turned out to be Amos Oz, who turns 75 on May 4.
Booker-Nominated Novel Raises Jewish Themes
Charlotte Mendelson’s new book is on the list for the Man Booker Prize. The heroine is Hungarian, but there is something very Jewish about the theme.
What Soccer Gave the Jews
Soccer gave English Jews a chance to be part of general society. A new book illuminates the conflict between assimilation and staying Jewish.
How To Be an Egotistical Writer From South Africa
Things I Don’t Want to Know: A Response to George Orwell’s Why I Write
By Deborah Levy
Notting Hill Editions
Happy Birthday, Stephen Sondheim!
Stephen Sondheim turns 83 today — a birthday always worth noting, though this time it will pass without an entire year of galas and concerts, as was the case on the composer’s 80th. Even considering the Jewish contributors to modern American musical theater — Jerome Kern, George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Leonard Bernstein (and many, many more) — it is Sondheim who has done the most to explore what is possible within the boundaries of the musical form. He is constantly pushing and reinventing, making musicals about ideas, themes, and plots that few other composers would have taken on. As such, I have selected what I consider to be his three finest musicals, though dissent in the comments section is welcome.
Shalom Auslander Wins JQ-Wingate Prize
Shalom Auslander was awarded the Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize — the United Kingdom’s top prize for Jewish literature — for his debut novel, “Hope: a Tragedy”, at a February 27 event at London’s Jewish Book Week.
Shani Boianjiu Goes Back to Hebrew
“Sometimes I think things I know are not true.”
A.B. Yehoshua: ‘The Settlements Are a Drug’
“In a time of crisis, there is rational tendency to turn to the writer,” A. B. Yehoshua told his audience at London’s Jewish Book Week on February 24. It is rational, he proposed, because the novelist “deals in the writing with morality” and is constantly grappling with essential questions.
Devilish Pact With Europe’s Right Wing
Muslim immigration has spurred neo-fascist movements across Europe. Despite their historic links to anti-Semitism, the rightists have found unusual allies on Israel’s far right.