Unpacking the Book: A Grand Debut
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
6:30–8:30pm
The Jewish Museum
1109 5th Ave
New York, NY 10128
Program Co-Sponsors: The David Berg Foundation, National Book Foundation, and Electric Literature
Media Sponsor: Tablet Magazine
Each of these authors have recently published either their first collection of short stories or full-length novel. We’ll sit down with them to talk about their books, how their “Jewishness” influences and impacts upon their writing, experiences on the road, their inspirations, and where they see the action going next. Are there any similarities or trends among their works or are they writing from completely different perspectives? We’re going to find out. Moderated by Bari Weiss.
Molly Antopol’s debut story collection, The UnAmericans, was published here by W.W. Norton in 2014, and in six other countries. She teaches creative writing at Stanford University, where she was a recent Wallace Stegner Fellow. A recipient of the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 award and longlisted for the National Book Award, she holds an MFA from Columbia University and lives in San Francisco.
Alexis Landau graduated from Vassar College and received her MFA from Emerson College. She is pursuing her Ph.D. in English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Southern California, currently finishing a thesis about Irène Némirovsky. The Empire of the Senses (Pantheon) is her first novel; her short stories have appeared in journals such as LA CityZine and Amor Fati. Originally from Los Angeles, Alexis lives with her husband and two children in Santa Monica.
Daniel Torday is the Director of Creative Writing at Bryn Mawr College. An author and former editor at Esquire magazine, Torday currently serves as an editor at The Kenyon Review. The Last Flight of Poxl West (St. Martin’s Press) is his first novel. His short stories and essays have appeared inEsquire, Glimmer Train, Harper Perennial’s Fifty-Two Stories, Harvard Review, The New York Times and The Kenyon Review. Torday’s novella, The Sensualist, won the 2012 National Jewish Book Award for debut fiction.
Hosted at the Jewish Museum in New York City (1109 5th Avenue), Unpacking the Book: Jewish Writers in Conversation brings together some of the finest writers of the day for conversations around contemporary Jewish life and identity. This event is FREE with pay-what-you-want admission and includes wine and refreshments, a book sale and signing, and the opportunity to visit the Jewish Museum galleries on the day of the program; however, space is limited and guests must register in advance.