Rebecca Goldstein
October 26 2006, 7:30 PM
Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall
Rebecca Goldstein began her first novel,
The Mind-Body Problem, with these words: "I'm often asked what it's like to be married to a genius." For more than 20 years, Goldstein has pursued the question of genius as a novelist, philosopher, and now a biographer. In
Particles of Light, she tells the story of Samuel Mallach, a physics prodigy turned "burned-out star."
In Incompleteness: The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Godel, she explores the life and work of the great 20th-century mathematician. And now, in her new book, she takes on Baruch Spinoza, the 17th-century champion of reason and the most famous heretic in Jewish history.
Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity rediscovers the flesh-and-blood man beneath the veneer of rigorous rationality and shows how his Sephardic heritage shaped his work. The author of eight books, Goldstein is herself the recipient of a MacArthur "genius grant."
Listen to Rebecca Goldstein talk about Spinoza, the famous heretic.
Claudia Roden
November 20 2006, 7:30 PM
Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall
"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. Following her talk, Ms. Roden will be joined onstage by chef, culinary arts instructor, and food writer Emily Moore for conversation and Q&A.
Listen to Claudia Roden's talk and demonstration on Mediterranean cuisine.
Moacyr Scliar & Ilan Stavans
December 14 2006, 7:30 PM
Langston Hughes Performing Arts 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 and
Tropical Synagogues.
Sara Paretsky
March 15 2007, 7:30 PM
Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall
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 with KUOW's Marcie Sillman about her Jewish upbringing and how it has informed her life and writing.