Sitting down with Israeli poet Admiel Kosman and his translator Lisa Katz (who is a poet in her own right) in the Forward’s podcast studio felt less like a formal interview than a conversation in a dimly lit cafe, extending for hours into the night. And it likely would have extended — if the producer…
It’s rare to find a novelist and Ivy League professor on a billboard in Times Square. Though Jeffrey Eugenides rises above Broadway in wind-blown clothes, the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Middlesex” and “The Virgin Suicides” is a soft-spoken Michigan native who describes himself as equal parts hillbilly and Greek. In his new novel, “The…
Jewish mail-order bride. Sounds like an oxymoron, right? And for that matter, Jewish pioneer does too. But they existed. And they inspired Anna Solomon to write her debut novel, “The Little Bride” (Riverhead). She researched Jewish pioneers settling land in the American heartland and the Great Plains in the late 1800s. Enter 16-year-old Minna Losk,…
Lev Grossman does not tire of his best-selling fantasy novels being called “Harry Potter for adults.” While “Potter” is marketed to children and happens to attract adult readers, “The Magicians” (Viking, 2009) and its new follow-up, “The Magician King,” are designed for adults. The books are filled with drinking, cursing and sex, and, things aren’t…
For as long as there have been authors, there have been secret identities — pseudonyms — used by writers to unlock creativity, hide identity, or simply to become someone else. Carmela Ciuraru became interested in the literary pseudonym and recently published a book on the topic, “Nom de Plume.” In it, she profiles famous and…
Novelist Richard Zimler writes suspense thrillers set in Jewish history, earning him the moniker “the Jewish Dan Brown.” His novel, “The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon” is a murder mystery set in Portugal during the Spanish Inquisition. “The Seventh Gate” is takes place in 1930s Berlin, where a hero must translate medieval Kabalistic texts to save…
Though Scientology is a religion according to the United States government, to others it is a corporation, even a cult. Once best known for its famous followers — Tom Cruise and John Travolta among them — today Scientology is more noted for lawsuits and allegations by former members of censorship and extreme punishments. Janet Reitman,…
A male ballet dancer is old enough to be a young artist’s grandfather, and yet they enter into a relationship to repair the hurts in each other’s lives. This is the premise of Israeli writer, Evan Fallenberg’s, second novel, “When We Danced on Water,” the follow up to his award-winning debut, “Light Fell.” His translation…
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