Feb 12
A LITERARY QUICKIE
8 AUTHORS – JUST 5 MINUTES TO PITCH THEIR BOOKS
Sun, Feb 12, 10:00 – 11:30am By donation. REGISTER
Light refreshments served.
HOST: DANIELLA GIVON
Modeled on the prestigious NYC Jewish Book Council author pitches, but adapted to the more relaxed Vancouver pace, this event gives each author 5 minutes to make the audience fall in love with their book and bring it home to meet mother.
LEO BURSTYN
You May Call Me Lance: A Tale of Lancelot the Most Noble Cat
Many cats lead extraordinary lives, but not many are lucky enough to have their adventures documented through the eyes of someone who truly understands them. Sir Lancelot is a legend of a cat, a YouTube superstar and a veterinary clinic super host. Now you can marvel at the story of his life as told in his own words and written down by the father of the helpful vet himself!
LEO BURSTYN is a semi-retired computer scientist living in Vancouver.
LAURA DUHAN-KAPLAN
Mouth of the Donkey: Re-Imagining Biblical Animals
The Torah is filled with animals. Snakes try to teach us. Donkeys work alongside us. Locusts warn us. Clearly, ancient Jewish writers paid close attention to the animals in their landscape. Mouth of the Donkey takes a new look at Torah’s animal stories, re-imagining them with wit, scholarship, and optimism. Every re-telling shows how Torah’s earth-based ecological values can guide us in a time of climate crisis.
LAURA DUHAN-KAPLAN is a scholar, writer, spiritual teacher, and animal-lover. She is Rabbi Emerita of Or Shalom Synagogue and Director of Inter-Religious Studies at the Vancouver School of Theology.
GEORGE HALPERN
From School To Sky: Joseph’s Tale of War
This is the amazing story of Joseph Halpern, snatched from his small Polish/Jewish community at the age of sixteen to become a Russian fighter pilot. His adventures and determination led him to become a hero of the Soviet Union, a fighter pilot in the 1948 Israeli conflict, and eventually took him to the shores of Canada, where he was reunited with his parents he presumed dead. He went on to a distinguished career and played a crucial role in NASA’s Apollo missions.
GEORGE HALPERN (Joseph’s son) had made his reputation as “Georgie Bones”—a skilled blues guitarist, singer-songwriter and mean harmonica player. He has been an entrepreneur, salesman, and a data technician in Vancouver.
HELGA HATVANY
Dreams, Nightmares, and Reality
This is the story of a prominent Hungarian-Jewish family of industrialists, influential writers, progressive political thinkers, and patrons of art and literature against the backdrop of 20th-century European history. The book serves to warn against ethnic discrimination and authoritarian dictatorships, both fascist and communist, while conveying an uplifting and inspiring message of resilience, perseverance, and the power of “paying it forward”.
HELGA HATVANY is a writer and translator in Vancouver.
KAREN McKINLAY KURNAEDY
Our Love Affair with Dance
This biography contributes to a history of early Modern Dance in Vancouver, detailing the lives of Jewish dance artists Magda and Gertrud Hahn, who opened the first modern dance school in Vancouver in the late 1950s. The sisters started teaching their own unique style of dance, which was innovative and groundbreaking for its time.
KAREN McKINLAY KURNAEDY is a dancer, writer, and educator in Coquitlam.
GLORIA LEVI
The Hotelkeeper’s Daughter
This creative memoir is the gripping story of the Hamerov family from 1938-1948. They lived in a religious, Eastern European Jewish immigrant community in Brooklyn, New York. To break the cycle of poverty, the parents decide to become
hotelkeepers. All four children struggle with their parents’ high expectations and demands.
GLORIA LEVI is a speaker, activist and author in Vancouver.
ELIANA TOBIAS
When We Return
Who should be held responsible for public wrongs? In this thought-provoking novel, weaving together different timelines and countries, Tobias examines the topic of grief a community endures after a collective tragedy. We discover what happens when our past calls us back to what we must do to achieve justice and reconciliation when we return.
ELIANA TOBIAS was born in Chile and lived in Peru before moving to Vancouver. Her lived experience of political turmoil fueled her passion to write about the ways in which people caught in devastation rebuild their lives.
MARJIE ZACKS
It All Ends Up in a Parfait Glass: A Tribute to My Mother’s Wisdom
Remember the Sixties? When parents didn’t know where you were every minute? When the teacher’s word was final and no one argued with her? Meet the Zacks family, where expectations were high and each day you had to accomplish something. Don’t just sit there. Read a book. Study hard and the world will be yours. Go back to a much simpler time, and laugh at “mom’s” expressions…Fast forward sixty years as all of those quirky sayings take on meaning at long last.
MARJIE ZACKS lives in Toronto and brings her small-town-Ontario childhood to life in this lighthearted collection.
A POWERFUL COLLECTION OF GRAPHIC NOVELLAS
BUT I LIVE – Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust
Sun Feb 12, 12:00pm $18 TICKETS
Editor CHARLOTTE SCHALLIÉ
WINNER – 2022 Canadian Jewish Literary Award
Graphic novelists | telling survivors’ stories
MIRIAM LIBICKI | David Schaffer (Vancouver): A Kind of Resistance
GILAD SELIKTAR | Nico & Rolf Kamp (Amsterdam): Thirteen Secrets
BARBARA YELIN | Emmie Arbel (Kiryat Tiv’on, Israel): But I Live
Touted as “the most powerful collection of non-fiction graphic novellas of the Holocaust since Art Spiegelman’s Maus” – But I Live is an intimate co-creation of three graphic novelists and four Holocaust survivors.
David Schaffer and his family survived in Romania due to their refusal to obey Nazi collaborators. In the Netherlands, brothers Nico and Rolf Kamp were hidden by the Dutch resistance in 13 different places. Through the story of Emmie Arbel, a child survivor of the Ravensbrück and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps, we see the lifelong trauma inflicted by the Holocaust. To complement these hauntingly beautiful visual depictions, the book includes historical essays, a postscript from the artists, and words of the survivors.
The graphic novelists and the editor will focus on the very unusual artistic process.
CHARLOTTE SCHALLIÉ is a professor and chair in the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies at the University of Victoria.
MIRIAM LIBICKI (Vancouver) holds an MFA in Creative Writing and is an award-winning graphic novelist. She is the author of Towards a Hot Jew (2017 Vine Award for Canadian Jewish Literature) and many nonfiction comics.
BARBARA YELIN (Munich) studied illustration at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences and has worked as a comics artist for newspapers and international anthologies. She published the award-winning graphic novel Irmina.
GILAD SELIKTAR (Israel) is an acclaimed graphic novelist and children’s book illustrator whose works are published in Israel and throughout the world.
MODERN-DAY WOMEN
HOW BC IS THAT? – OFFBEAT MEMOIRS
Sun Feb 12, 2:00pm $18 TICKETS
Also appearing on Sun Feb 12, 11:00am at Har El, the North Shore Centre for Jewish Life. By donation. REGISTER
MARGOT FEDORUK – Cooking Tips for Desperate Fishwives: An Island Memoir
Part love story, part survival story, part meditation on family dysfunction, this offbeat memoir chronicles the unpredictable life of a young wife and mother on Gabriola Island. Margot was just 26 when she left her Slavic-Jewish family in Winnipeg and moved to the West Coast. The love story starts when she met Rick in BC, a red-haired sea urchin diver. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Margot’s reflections on marriage, motherhood, isolation, food, and family paint an unforgettable portrait of a modern-day woman. (And yes, there are recipes in the book!) Margot still lives on Gabriola Island.
MARGOT FEDORUK is a writer, book reviewer and entrepreneur, whose work has been published in the Globe and Mail, Quill & Quire, BC BookWorld, Ormbsy Review, etc.
TAMAR GLOUBERMAN – Chasing Rivers: A Whitewater Life
The thrilling story of a whitewater guide working on some of the most challenging and remote rafting rivers in North America, from Northern BC to the Grand Canyon and beyond. Driven to guide increasingly dangerous rivers, Tamar overcomes her self-doubts and challenges both on and off the water, using a combination of grit and wit. A raw and honest work from a talented new voice in adventure writing, Tamar’s memoir is a page-turner, transporting readers through wild rapids and breath-taking canyons; she learns from the river that finding self-forgiveness might be the most hard-to-reach destination of all.
TAMAR GLOUBERMAN is a graduate of the Creative Writing program at UBC and has spent much of her life as an outdoor guide. Having worked in exotic places such as the Galapagos, Zambia and Peru, she is most grateful to be able to enjoy North America’s wild rivers and grizzly bears.
JBF EVENT FOR BURQUEST JEWISH COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
At the Coquitlam Public Library, City Centre Branch
Sun, Feb 12, 2:30 By donation. REGISTER
HELGA HATVANY – Dreams, Nightmares, and Reality
Born to one of the most prominent Hungarian-Jewish families of the past two centuries, Helga was the last family member to be raised in her home country during the goulash communism era. Her ancestors rose to fame, fortune, and the ranks of nobility as successful industrialists. They left their mark on history and culture as progressive political thinkers, talented writers, painters, and legendary philanthropists. Dreams, Nightmares, and Reality serves to warn against ethnic discrimination and authoritarian dictatorships, both fascist and communist, while conveying an uplifting and inspiring message of resilience, perseverance, and the power of “paying it forward”. HELGA HATVANY is a writer and translator living in Vancouver.
YISHAI SARID – Victorious
Translated from the Hebrew by YARDENNE GREENSPAN
From the author of The Memory Monster, a New York Times Notable Book of 2020, comes a gripping examination of the complexities of military service as experienced by Abigail, a military psychologist and single mother who has spent her career in the Israeli Army and becomes implicated in the dilemmas soldiers encounter both on and off the battlefield. In this riveting, provocative inquiry into modern warfare, Yishai Sarid unmasks the contradictions at the heart of patriotism, national identity, and the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.
YISHAI SARID was born and raised in Tel Aviv. During his IDF service, he served as an intelligence officer and then studied law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Nowadays he is an active lawyer and arbitrator. Alongside his legal career, Sarid has published six novels which have been translated into ten languages and have won literary prizes.
YOUNG READERS: GRAPHIC NOVEL
Sun Feb 12, 10:15am FREE
HART SNIDER
Art by SEAN COVERTON
The Basketball Game: A Graphic Novel
A graphic novel based on the author’s childhood experience, adapted from his award-winning NFB animated short, The Basketball Game is a poignant tale of the power of community as a means to rise above hatred and bigotry.
HART SNIDER is a writer and filmmaker living in Vancouver. He loves hanging out with his family, editing documentaries, reading comics and graphic novels, and staying up late.
Illustrator SEAN COVERTON moved to Vancouver to pursue his dreams of making cartoons for a living.
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PJ LIBRARY
HUMOUR GOES AROUND
At White Rock South Surrey JCC 3033 King George Blvd, Surrey
Sun Feb 12, 3:00pm by donation. REGISTER
AARON BUSHKOWSKY – Water Proof
“With the bucolic settings, oddball characters, and bizarre twists, Water Proof will make you laugh and care…”
A dark, rousing comedy set in the Pacific Northwest, this is a story about infidelity, film-making, and the search for a missing kayaker.
AARON BUSHKOWSKY is a Vancouver author, poet, playwright, and screenplay writer. His first novel, Curtains for Roy, was shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour. He teaches playwriting and filmwriting at Langara College, Studio 58, Kwantlen University, and at Vancouver Film School.
JEFFREY GROBERMAN – Grobetrotting: Travel the World Laugh by Laugh
Grobetrotting is a book about travel attitude, focusing on how one faces the aggravating, unpredictable and sometimes frightening aspects of travel. Jeff’s narrative moves the stories forward with edgy wit and just the right amount of self-deprecating humour.
JEFF GROBERMAN is a writer and producer who has entertained legions of radio and TV audiences over a distinguished-yet-hilarious career. Jeff produced shows for CBC, PBS, CTV, Global and Knowledge Network and was inducted into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame.
IMPORTANT STORIES FOR YOUTH
BOOK LAUNCH
Sun Feb 12, 4:00pm FREE REGISTER
Also appearing on Mon Feb 13, 10:00am at VTT
SELINA ALKO (Illustrator)
with CAREN STELSON (author) – Stars of the Night: The Courageous Children of the Czech Kindertransport
In conversation with Abby Wener Herlin
Stars of the Night recounts the powerful true story of the 669 young people who traveled as part of the Czech Kindertransport from Prague to Britain. Told from the collective perspective of the children, the narrative starts in 1938 and follows them as they journey to foster families in England, return to Prague after the war in an unsuccessful search for their parents, and then connect with Nicholas Winton, a British former stockbroker who was instrumental in bringing them to safety.
A former Vancouverite, SELINA ALKO is an award-winning children’s book author and illustrator who currently lives in Brooklyn. Her work includes B is for Brooklyn and The Case for Loving.
CAREN STELSON’s book for middle graders, Sachiko: A Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivor’s Story, was longlisted for a National Book Award and received a Sibert Honor Medal. Caren lives in Minneapolis.
PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE VANCOUVER HOLOCAUST EDUCATION CENTRE
MASTER STORYTELLERS
Sun Feb 12, 6:00pm FREE REGISTER
MICHAEL FRANK
One Hundred Saturdays – Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World
In conversation with Abby Wener Herlin
This is the remarkable story of ninety-nine-year-old Stella Levi whose conversations with journalist Michael Frank over the course of six years bring to life the vibrant world of Jewish Rhodes, the deportation to Auschwitz that extinguished ninety percent of her community, and the resilience and wisdom of the woman who lived to tell the tale.
Probing and courageous, candid and sly, Stella is a magical modern-day Scheherazade whose stories reveal what it was like to grow up in an extraordinary place in an extraordinary time—and to construct a life after that place has vanished. Stella asks challenging questions that often have no easy answer. She is honest about her life. She is the kind of person we all dream of learning from and who—at nearly a century—is still interested in engaging with and learning from us in return.
One Hundred Saturdays also features incredible illustrations by The New Yorker’s MAIRA KALMAN.
MICHAEL FRANK is the author of What Is Missing, a novel, and The Mighty Franks, a memoir. His essays, articles, and short stories have appeared in numerous publications. He lives in New York.
PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE VANCOUVER HOLOCAUST EDUCATION CENTRE
ISRAELI FICTION
THOUGHT-PROVOKING INQUIRY INTO NATIONAL IDENTITY & PSYCHOLOGY
Sun Feb 12, 8:00pm $18 TICKETS
YISHAI SARID – Victorious
Translated from the Hebrew by YARDENNE GREENSPAN
In conversation with Gina Roitman
Also appearing on Sun Feb 12, 2:30pm for Burquest JCA, at the Coquitlam Public Library, City Centre Branch. By donation. REGISTER
From the author of The Memory Monster, a New York Times Notable Book of 2020, comes a gripping examination of the complexities of military service as experienced by Abigail, a therapist who becomes implicated in the dilemmas soldiers encounter both on and off the battlefield.
A military psychologist and single mother who has spent her career in the Israeli Army, Abigail is a leading expert in the psychology of combat, helping soldiers negotiate the trauma of war while instructing commanders on best practices for killing with resilience and efficacy.
As her son Shauli approaches the age for military service, Abigail becomes increasingly involved in the lives of the army’s Chief of Staff and those of her patients, and the lines between her personal beliefs and her profession begin to blur. Meanwhile, Abigail’s deeply moral father, a clinical psychologist himself, openly condemns her choice to aid Israel’s military machine. Yet, for Abigail, it’s a patriotic duty. Only when gentle Shauli enlists in the elite and dangerous paratroopers unit are Abigail’s own mental defenses finally breached.
In this riveting, provocative inquiry into modern warfare, Yishai Sarid unmasks the contradictions at the heart of patriotism, national identity, and the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.
YISHAI SARID was born and raised in Tel Aviv. During his IDF service, he served as an intelligence officer and then studied law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Nowadays he is an active lawyer and arbitrator. Alongside his legal career, Sarid has published six novels which have been translated into ten languages and have won literary prizes.
GINA ROITMAN is an award-winning writer, biographer and writing coach.
SPONSORED BY DANIELLA GIVON & BERNARD PINSKY