Stories of Exile Book Discussion: In the Land of the Postscript by Chava Rosenfarb
Thursday, November 2, 6:30-8pm, Adults, Virtual
Join Dr. Matthew Johnson to explore and discuss In the Land of the Postscript: The Complete Short Stories of Chava Rosenfarb. With the addition of three stories, namely, “The Masterpiece”, “April 19th”, and “Letters to God”, this collection makes available in English for the first time a complete selection of Chava Rosenfarb's short stories all in one place. All the stories in this collection deal with the afterlife of Holocaust survivors in North America. Since Chava Rosenfarb was herself a Holocaust survivor who settled in Montreal after the war, she speaks in these stories from personal experience at the same time as she allows her imagination to inhabit the minds of characters far different from herself. Translated by Goldie Morgentaler, the daughter of the author.
This is a virtual discussion. Registration will close 2 hours before the program begins. Registrants will receive a Zoom meeting link shortly thereafter.
After registering, you will be contacted by librarian Rachel Garcia and she will provide instructions on how to access a copy of the book in your preferred format. The ebook is always available to read through Hoopla. There are limited print copies of the book available.
This program is part of the library's "Stories of Exile" series taking place this fall. This series is the result of a grant awarded to Wilmette Public Library and twenty-seven other libraries around the country by the Yiddish Book Center. The Yiddish Book Center is a nonprofit organization working to recover, celebrate, and regenerate Yiddish and modern Jewish literature and culture. With this series, the Center hopes to use Yiddish literature as a lens to reflect upon the experience of exile, displacement, and migration shared across cultures and throughout history.
Matthew Johnson (he/him) is a senior lecturer and director of Yiddish and Ashkenazic Studies at The Ohio State University. He teaches courses in Yiddish Studies and German-Jewish Studies, including courses that address topics such as diaspora, exile, and migration, translation theory and practice, gender and sexuality, and literature, film, television, and other media. Johnson received his Ph.D. from the Department of Germanic Studies at the University of Chicago in 2022. Johnson is currently working on a book project, Faltering Language: On German-Yiddish Literature, which demonstrates how the intersection between German and Yiddish became an important but largely forgotten site of cultural production from around 1900 to the present.
For those who would like to purchase a copy of In the Land of the Postscript, please support our local independent bookstore, The Book Stall at 811 Elm Street in Winnetka.
Read Around the World Book Discussion: Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin
Thursday, November 9, 2-3pm, Adults, Auditorium
It’s winter in Sokcho, a tourist town on the border between South and North Korea. The cold slows everything down. Bodies are red and raw, the fish turn venomous, beyond the beach guns point out from the North’s watchtowers. A young French Korean woman works as a receptionist in a tired guesthouse. One evening, an unexpected guest arrives: a French cartoonist determined to find inspiration in this desolate landscape.
The two form an uneasy relationship. When she agrees to accompany him on trips to discover an "authentic" Korea, they visit snowy mountaintops and dramatic waterfalls, and cross into North Korea. But he takes no interest in the Sokcho she knows—the gaudy neon lights, the scars of war, the fish market where her mother works. As she’s pulled into his vision and taken in by his drawings, she strikes upon a way to finally be seen. (From the publisher)
Find a copy of the book here. Ebook copies are available through Digital Library of Illinois or the Libby app.
For those who would like to purchase a copy of Winter in Sokcho, please support our local independent bookstore, The Book Stall at 811 Elm Street in Winnetka.
Classics & Contemporary/Stories of Exile Book Discussion: The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich
Tuesday, November 14, 10:30-11:30am, Adults, Auditorium
While appraising the estate of a New Hampshire family descended from a North Dakota Indian agent, Faye Travers is startled to discover a rare moose skin and cedar drum fashioned long ago by an Ojibwe artisan. And so begins an illuminating journey both backward and forward in time, following the strange passage of a powerful yet delicate instrument, and revealing the extraordinary lives it has touched and defined.
Compelling and unforgettable, Louise Erdrich's The Painted Drum explores the often-fraught relationship between mothers and daughters, the strength of family, and the intricate rhythms of grief with all the grace, wit, and startling beauty that characterizes this acclaimed author's finest work. (From the publisher)
Copies of the book are available here. The ebook is always available through Hoopla.
This program is part of the library's "Stories of Exile" series taking place this fall. This series is the result of a grant awarded to Wilmette Public Library and twenty-seven other libraries around the country by the Yiddish Book Center. The Yiddish Book Center is a nonprofit organization working to recover, celebrate, and regenerate Yiddish and modern Jewish literature and culture. With this series, the Center hopes to use Yiddish literature as a lens to reflect upon the experience of exile, displacement, and migration shared across cultures and throughout history.
For those who would like to purchase a copy of The Painted Drum, please support our local independent bookstore, The Book Stall at 811 Elm Street in Winnetka.