2014 Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival Brochure

dcjcc.org/litfest | 202.777.3251dcjcc.org/litfest | 202.777.3251dcjcc.org/litfest

OCTOBER 19 to 29, 2014

HYMAN S. & FREDA BERNSTEINJEWISH LITERARY FESTIVAL

2 dcjcc.org/litfest | 202.777.3251 Discounted: Members, Seniors 65 & older, Students with ID and Groups of 10+

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19, 7:00 PMLocal Author Fair: Discover a New Book

MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 7:30 PMThe Sarajevo Haggadah: Music of the Book with Geraldine Brooks

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 7:30 PM, The Chaim Kempner Author SeriesZachary Lazar, I Pity the Poor Immigrant: A Novel

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 8:00 PMArt Spiegelman’s WORDLESS! with music by Phillip Johnston, at Lisner Auditorium

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 7:30 PMHilma and Meg Wolitzer: Like Mother, Like Daughter, moderated by Deborah Tannen

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 7:30 PMFilm: Fifth Heaven

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, NOONNick Kotz, The Harness Maker’s Dream: Nathan Kallison and the Rise of South Texas

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 8:00 PM, The Gerald L. Bernstein Memorial LectureDr. Ruth K. Westheimer and Jerome E. Singerman, Myths of Love: Echoes of Ancient Mythology in the Modern Romantic Imagination

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26, 10:00 AMThe Great Children’s Read: Bringing Books to Life

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26, 7:00 PMS. Bear Bergman performing Machatunim

MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 7:30 PMMathew Klickstein, Slimed!: An Oral History of Nickelodeon’s Golden Age

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 7:30 PM, The Bernard Wexler Lecture on Jewish History Martin Goldsmith, Alex’s Wake: A Voyage of Betrayal and a Journey of Remembrance

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 7:30 PMGary Shteyngart in Conversation with NPR’s Alan Cheuse, Little Failure: A Memoir

FESTIVAL SCHEDULEPresented by the DCJCC’s Morris Cafritz Center for the Arts

All events at the DCJCC unless otherwise noted.

3dcjcc.org/litfest | 202.777.3251

CATHERINE ZACKS GILDENHORN

LOCAL AUTHOR FAIR: DISCOVER A NEW BOOK

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 197:00 PM, FREE

AN ANNUAL FESTIVAL FAVORITE: Meet and greet authors at the Local Author Fair! Fifteen DC-area authors will introduce you to their books with short presentations. Buy a locally grown book and chat with area readers and writers at a wine and cheese reception.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19, 7:00 PMLocal Author Fair: Discover a New Book

MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 7:30 PMThe Sarajevo Haggadah: Music of the Book with Geraldine Brooks

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 7:30 PM, The Chaim Kempner Author SeriesZachary Lazar, I Pity the Poor Immigrant: A Novel

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 8:00 PMArt Spiegelman’s WORDLESS! with music by Phillip Johnston, at Lisner Auditorium

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 7:30 PMHilma and Meg Wolitzer: Like Mother, Like Daughter, moderated by Deborah Tannen

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 7:30 PMFilm: Fifth Heaven

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, NOONNick Kotz, The Harness Maker’s Dream: Nathan Kallison and the Rise of South Texas

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 8:00 PM, The Gerald L. Bernstein Memorial LectureDr. Ruth K. Westheimer and Jerome E. Singerman, Myths of Love: Echoes of Ancient Mythology in the Modern Romantic Imagination

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26, 10:00 AMThe Great Children’s Read: Bringing Books to Life

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26, 7:00 PMS. Bear Bergman performing Machatunim

MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 7:30 PMMathew Klickstein, Slimed!: An Oral History of Nickelodeon’s Golden Age

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 7:30 PM, The Bernard Wexler Lecture on Jewish History Martin Goldsmith, Alex’s Wake: A Voyage of Betrayal and a Journey of Remembrance

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 7:30 PMGary Shteyngart in Conversation with NPR’s Alan Cheuse, Little Failure: A Memoir

FEATURING


Join Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks, author of People of the Book: A Novel, for the Washington, DC debut of an ambitious multimedia concert based on the story of the Sarajevo Haggadah. Bosnian-born composer and accordionist Merima Ključo, pianist Seth Knopp and video artist Bart Woodstrup trace the treasured manuscript’s phenomenal journey. Brooks will introduce the program and join Ključo and Knopp for a post-concert discussion.Commissioned by the Foundation for Jewish Culture’s New Jewish Culture Network

WITH GERALDINE BROOKSMONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 7:30 PM$25, Discounted $20, VIP $50 (Priority Seating)

THE SARAJEVO HAGGADAH: MUSIC OF THE BOOK

OPENING NIGHT SPONSORED BY TAMARA AND HARRY HANDELSMAN


ZACHARY LAZARI PITY THE POOR IMMIGRANT: A NOVEL

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 7:30 PM$15, Discounted $12 | The Chaim Kempner Author Series

In 1972, American gangster Meyer Lansky petitioned the Israeli government for citizenship. Though his request was denied, he

continued to dream about returning to Israel. Lazar, author of the hit novel Sway, intertwines Lansky’s story with the tale of a modern-day

journalist caught in a web of violence involving the American and Israeli mafias, King David and Lansky himself.

Supported by the Chaim Kempner Collection Library Fund, the Chaim Kempner Author Series brings authors of recently published books to the DCJCC for the learning and

enjoyment of the entire community.


ART SPIEGELMAN’S WORDLESS!

Art Spiegelman and Phillip Johnston unite in WORDLESS!—a new and stimulating hybrid of slides, talk and musical performance. With original music by Phillip Johnston and live narration and text by Pulitzer Prize winner Art Spiegelman, this live performance delves into Spiegelman’s premise around comics, their history, and their capacity for images to go right to the brain as wordless messages. Experience the art of comics as Spiegelman probes further into the nature and possibilities of his medium.In Partnership with GW Lisner

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 8:00 PMTickets starting at $35, Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st Street NW

with music by PHILLIP JOHNSTON


Moderated by DEBORAH TANNEN

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 7:30 PM$15, Discounted $12

Hilma Wolitzer, author of An Available Man: A Novel, and her daughter Meg, author of the literary sensation The

Interestings and the new young adult novel Belzhar, sit down to discuss their writing and the family influences that have shaped their work. Moderated by Georgetown

University Professor Deborah Tannen, author of You’re Wearing That?: Understanding Mothers and

Daughters in Conversation.

HILMA & MEG WOLITZERLIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER


Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Nick Kotz tells the sweeping and personal story of one family and the pioneer rancher, Nathan Kallison, who helped develop modern Texas. A Russian immigrant in the 1890’s, Kallison, Kotz’s grandfather, eventually settled in San Antonio, where he turned his one-room saddlery into the largest farm and ranch supply business in the Southwest. Bring a bag lunch!

NICK KOTZTHE HARNESS MAKER’S DREAM: NATHAN KALLISON AND THE RISE OF SOUTH TEXASFRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, NOON$12, Discounted $10

Dir. Dina Zvi-Riklis 103 min, Israel, 2012In Hebrew with English SubtitlesIn this beautiful coming-of-age drama, a 13-year-old orphan struggles to adjust to a new life in British-controlled Palestine in 1944. Maya lives in an orphanage for Jewish girls on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, where she develops forbidden feelings for an anti-British resistance fighter. Based on the novel of the same name by Rachel Eytan, winner of the prestigious Brenner Prize.

FILM: FIFTH HEAVENTHURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 7:30 PM$11


DR. RUTH K. WESTHEIMER & JEROME E. SINGERMAN

Dr. Ruth Westheimer, America’s favorite sex therapist, analyzes the irrational, cruel and often deadly world of classic myths—from Narcissus

to Helen of Troy to Venus and Adonis. Dr. Ruth and co-author Jerome E. Singerman examine the underlying psychology of ancient myths, and trace

how they have endured in literature and art throughout the centuries, influencing how we think about love even today.

This annual lecture is made possible by a generous endowment from Tamara and Harry Handelsman in honor of the memory of Tamara Handelsman’s brother, Gerald L. Bernstein.

MYTHS OF LOVE: ECHOES OF ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY IN THE MODERN ROMANTIC IMAGINATION

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 8:00 PM$25, Discounted $20, VIP $50 (Priority Seating)

THE GERALD L. BERNSTEIN MEMORIAL LECTURE


PERFORMANCE: MACHATUNIM

S. Bear Bergman understands family—original, chosen, and a hearty blend of the two. Bergman joins us to perform stories about the lives of his grandparents, his Shabbat table, the hilarity of planning his wedding, and the survival story of Chanukah set against Trans Day of Remembrance. He also makes space for those complex relationships for which we must create our own names—drag mothers, step-parents emeritus, your sperm donor’s parents and other queerly-related loved ones—all redefining the notion of what family is and can be.

BASED ON S. BEAR BERGMAN’SBLOOD, MARRIAGE, WINE AND GLITTER SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26, 7:00 PM$18, Discounted $15 — Bring your bubbe for free!


Did you know Alanis Morissette before she was “ironic”? Do Rugrats, Clarissa Explains It All and The Adventures of Pete & Pete conjure up memories

of Saturday night SNICK marathons? Then you grew up in the golden age of Nickelodeon! Mathew Klickstein interviewed hundreds of Nickelodeon

insiders, including actors Melissa Joan Hart and Kenan Thompson, to uncover the origins of green slime, how Ren & Stimpy managed to get on

the air and much more. Followed by Nick-themed trivia!

MATHEW KLICKSTEIN

SLIMED!: AN ORAL HISTORY OF NICKELODEON’S GOLDEN AGE

MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 7:30 PM$15, Discounted $12

THE GREAT CHILDREN’S READ:

BRINGING BOOKS TO LIFE

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26, 10:00 AMFREE

The Great Children’s Read returns with crafts, a sing-along and a storyteller! We’ll also have a book fair with a wide selection of Jewish and other

children’s books and a special guest: Clifford the Big Red Dog™! We are collecting new or gently used books to donate to Reading Partners, an

organization that helps children become lifelong readers. Ages 2 - 8


MARTIN GOLDSMITHALEX’S WAKE: A VOYAGE OF BETRAYAL AND A JOURNEY OF REMEMBRANCETUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 7:30 PMFREE

In 1939 the MS St. Louis, loaded with Jewish refugees eager to escape Nazi Germany, sailed from Hamburg. Denied entry to Cuba and then the United States, the ship and its passengers were returned to Europe. Author and radio personality Martin Goldsmith details his six-week quest to retrace the journey his grandfather and his uncle made from the St. Louis, to French concentration camps, to murder at Auschwitz. With an introduction by Scott Miller, Director of Curatorial Affairs at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.The Bernard Wexler Fund for Jewish History, established in 1996, supports an annual lecture that brings outstanding speakers, scholarly research and contemporary issues to the forefront of learning at the DCJCC.

THE BERNARD WEXLER LECTURE ON JEWISH HISTORY


GARY SHTEYNGARTIn Conversation with Alan Cheuse

From the author of the bestselling novels Super Sad True Love Story and The Russian Debutante’s Handbook comes an epic American

immigrant story starring a lovable, stumbling, lusting hero—Gary Shteyngart himself. In his newest hit, Shteyngart explores what it means to be an immigrant, a son, an American, a boyfriend and a

writer. In conversation with NPR’s “Voice of Books” Alan Cheuse.

LITTLE FAILURE: A MEMOIRWEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 7:30 PM

$25, Discounted $20, VIP $50 (Priority Seating)

CLOSING NIGHT SPONSORED BY LOUIE AND RALPH DWECK


GIFTS AS OF AUGUST 15, 2014

Thankyou!

CRITICAnonymousLois and Michael FingerhutNaomi FreemanDina GoldPaula Seigle GoldmanMartha Winter Gross and Robert TracyShoshana and Peter GroveGilbert HollandMartha Kahn and Simeon M. KriesbergMaryla KornStuart S. Kurlander and David L. MartinPaula Veiner McMartinMyra and Allen MondzacMichelle SenderShirley and Jack SerberMindy Strelitz and Andrew CornblattDeborah Tannen and Michael MacovskiRivka Yerushalmi

READERDava BerkmanRyna and Marcella and Neil CohenMarsha DubrowDiana EngelMyrna FawcettLorraine Gallard and Richard LevyJay GerardDr. Kenneth* and Cheryl Gorelick FundJim HambuechenElizabeth HodesCarole LernerDeborah PrigalDavid PughRenay and Bill RegardieNaomi and Peter RosenblattMadelyn R. ShapiroLynnette Spira

EDITORElizabeth BerryFaye and Jack MoskowitzMelanie and Larry NussdorfMichael SingerDavid Bruce Smith Family FoundationJudith Weintraub

AUTHORBabs and Rabbi A.N. AbramowitzDeborah Carliner and Robert RemesRose and Robert CohenCraig Pascal and Victor ShargaiAnne & Henry Reich Family Foundation

Lee G. Rubenstein, co-PresidentBeverly and Harlan SherwatTina and Albert Small Jr.Francine Zorn Trachtenberg

and Stephen Joel TrachtenbergDiane Abelman WattenbergAnn and Stephan WernerSusan P. Willens

EPIC HEROLouie and Ralph DweckTamara and Harry Handelsman

*of blessed memory


DETAILSMore information!

VOLUNTEERSign up to help at one event and attend another for free at dcjcc.org/litfest.

BOOKSFeatured books will be sold at the events and in our online store. The authors will sign books following each program.

TICKETSPurchase tickets at dcjcc.org/litfest or 202.777.3251.Discounted tickets are available for members, seniors 65 and over, students

with ID and groups of 10 or more. Purchase a Festival Pass and save 30%. All ticket sales are final. All events are general admission unless otherwise noted. Reserved seating is available for patrons with special needs upon request. All events are at the DCJCC unless otherwise noted.

1529 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036

DIRECTIONS TO THE DCJCCVia Metro Red Line, exit the Dupont Circle station via the north (Q Street) exit.

Walk east to 16th Street.Via bus, take the S1, S2 or S4 along 16th Street.

DIRECTIONS TO LISNER AUDITORIUMVia Metro Orange and Blue Lines, exit the Foggy Bottom-GWU station at 23rd

and I Streets. Walk straight along I Street for two blocks to 21st Street. Turn right and walk one block to H Street.

PARKING AT THE DCJCCLimited street parking available. Colonial Parking Garages at 1616 P Street NW and 1515 15th Street NW. Limited paid parking in the DCJCC’s lot.

Washington DCJCCIrwin P. Edlavitch Building1529 Sixteenth Street NWWashington, DC 20036

FESTIVAL CHAIRSFaye Moskowitz & Michael Singer

FOUNDING CHAIRTamara Handelsman

WASHINGTON DCJCC PRESIDENTRose H. Cohen

MEDIA SPONSORS

PROGRAM CO-SPONSORSAdas Israel Congregation

Bet MishpachahFoundation for Jewish Culture

Jewish Historical Society of Greater WashingtonOhev Sholom—The National Synagogue

PEN/Faulkner FoundationWashington Hebrew Congregation

The Writer’s CenterWriting Program at Johns Hopkins University

PROMOTIONAL PARTNERSCasa Ruby

Embassy of IsraelFoundation for Jewish Studies

The Jewish Primary Day School of the Nation’s CapitalJewish Study Center

Kesher Israel: The Georgetown SynagogueMoment Magazine

PJ LibraryTemple Micah

WASHINGTON DCJCC STAFFCarole R. Zawatsky, Chief Executive Officer

Lili Kalish Gersch, Director of Literature, Music & Jewish LifeAlena Kranzberg, Festival Coordinator

Rachel Feingold, Festival Assistant

dcjcc.org/litfest

OFFICIAL BOOKSELLER

Member of

Documents

2014 Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival Brochure