E.L. Doctorow
October 19 2006, 6:30 PM
Harold Washington Library Center
400 South State Street, Chicago
In compelling, unconventional novels, from
The Book of Daniel to
Billy Bathgate to
The March, E.L. Doctorow brings modern history to life, often through experiences of important Jewish figures—Harry Houdini, Sigmund Freud, Emma Goldman, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Dutch Schultz, and others. Born in the Bronx in 1931, Doctorow is the author of 15 books and the recipient of the National Book Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Three of his novels have been adapted to film, including
Ragtime, which was also turned into a musical in 1998. He lives in New York, where he holds the Gluckman Chair in American Letters at New York University.
Claudia Roden
November 15 2006, 6:30 PM
The Newberry Library
60 W. Walton Street, Chicago
"Claudia Roden is no more a simple cookbook writer than Marcel Proust was a biscuit maker," declares historian Simon Schama. In her seminal books on Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food, Roden weaves together memoir, history, anthropology, and recipes to tell the story of a culture through its cuisine. In
The Book of Jewish Food, we learn what the ancient Hebrews ate and that fish-and-chips was introduced to England by Portuguese Jews. Born in Cairo, Roden left at 15, after the Suez Canal crisis led to the confiscation of property and other attacks on the Egyptian Jewish community. She is the author of numerous books, including
A Book of Middle Eastern Food, The Food of Italy: Region by Region, and most recently, Arabesque:
A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon.
Listen to Claudia Roden's talk and demonstration on Mediterranean cuisine.
Moacyr Scliar & Ilan Stavans
December 13 2006, 6:30 PM
Harold Washington Library Center
"If the trials and tribulations of Latin America's Jewry might be found in a nutshell, it is in
The Centaur and the Garden," writes Ilan Stavans of Moacyr Scliar's most famous novel. The two writers discuss those "trials and tribulations," as well as the surprising joys awaiting readers of Latin American Jewish literature. Born in Porto Alegre, Scliar is one of Brazil's most distinguished writers. His other books include
The Carnival of Animals, Max and the Cats, and
Collected Stories. Ilan Stavans was born in Mexico City to Eastern European Jewish parents. He has spent much of his career exploring the connections between Jewish and Hispanic cultures—from Columbus to comic strips to the works of Borges and Kafka. His books include
On Borrowed Words: A Memoir of Language, Tropical Synagogues, and
Spanglish: The Making of a New American Memoir.
Sara Paretsky
March 14 2007, 6:30 PM
The Newberry Library
60 W. Walton Street, Chicago
Sara Paretsky published her first story in
The American Girl at the age of 11, but it wasn't until her 30s that she turned to detective fiction. "I loved detective fiction, but I was troubled by the way women were traditionally portrayed in that genre—they always seemed to be either evil or powerless." Paretsky's response was to create V.I. Warshawski, a tough, independent female private eye who has become one of the best known characters in crime fiction. Paretsky's novels include
Indemnity Only, Blood Shot, Blacklist, and
Fire Sale. Raised in eastern Kansas, where she and her brothers were the only Jewish kids in school, Paretsky talks about her Jewish upbringing and how it has informed her life and writing.