Dr. Nicholas Johnson, of Trinity College Dublin, will deliver the Annual Samuel Beckett Lecture at Tel Aviv University on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 18:15, in the presence of  H.E. Breifne O’Reilly, Ambassador of Ireland.
The annual event is sponsored by the Embassy of Ireland, Culture Division, Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, and Tel Aviv University Department of Theatre Arts and is free and open to the public. H.E. Breifne O’Reilly, Ambassador of Ireland to Israel;  Prof. Raanan Rein, Vice-President, Tel Aviv University; Prof. Hannah Naveh, Dean of the Faculty of …

Love, love, love. Where can you find love in Israel? Fiction is always a good place to start, and the Ang-Lit Press, a Tel Aviv based publishing cooperative, has recently published a new fiction anthology: Love in Israel.

65 short stories in English – all about love, my favorite subject. Love in Israel will be  the focus of a special event at the 26th Jerusalem Book Fair on Monday, February 11th from 19:00 – 21:00 in the Teddy-D Hall at Binyanei Hauma, the International Convention Center. Admission is free and the …

Celebrate Yiddish culture! The National Council for Yiddish Culture is renewing their activities following a 6 year hiatus, working to preserve, nurture and promote Yiddish culture. Their first event will be a  literary musical evening  at  the Jerusalem Book Fair 2013 on Wednesday, February 13th at 18:00, Binyanei Hauma, Convention Center. Admission to the event is free.
Hosting the evening will be Mendy Cahan, founder of YUNG YiDiSH. The program will include the screening of a clip composed of photographs and archival recordings, animation and documentaries relating to Yiddish culture. Mendy …

Kisufim: The Third Jerusalem Conference of Jewish Writers and Poets will take place at Beit Avi Chai and Mishkenot Sha’ananim from February 5 – 8, 2013.  The theme of this year’s conference is “Language and Memory.”
The conference gathers in Jewish writers from all over the world, creating connections between writers working in different languages and cultures, and local readers. Among this year’s international guests are novelist Nathan Englander (US), poet Robert Pinsky (US), Mario Levi (Turkey), and Nora Gold (US), founder of Jewish Fiction. net. http://www.jewishfiction.net/index.php/home/ Israeli writers at the …

Celebrate Isaac Bashevis Singer’s 110th birthday with the Orto-Da Theatre Group on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at The Little Prince Cafe.
Orto-Da, under the artistic direction of Yinon Tsafrir, has initiated a multi-disciplinary series creating an encounter between theatre and literature, in correspondence with significant dates and events in the Jewish/Israeli calendar. The evening dedicated to Yiddish author and Nobel Laureate Bashevis Singer will be the third event in the series, directed by Avi Gibson-Barel and moderated by Sahara Blau, with guests author Alona Kimhi and writer/translator Roy Chen.
Issues to be …

***IMPORTANT UPDATE*** Change of date: Joy Harjo will give a poetry and music performance at  TAU on Monday, December  10th at 16:00 in Gilman 223.
For Native American writer and performer Joy Harjo, music and poetry come together to create a full artistic experience. Ms. Harjo is this year’s Writer-in-Residence at Tel Aviv University’s Department of English and American Studies. On Monday, November 19, 2012 at 16.00, she will give a poetry and music performance at the University.
Oklahoma-born Joy Harjo is a member of Muscogee (Creek) Nation. A prolific writer, she …

Osama by Lavie Tidhar was awarded the prestigious 2012 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in a ceremony at the World Fantasy Convention in Toronto Canada on November 4, 2012. In the novel, Tidhar explores the impact of terrorism through the character of Joe, a private investigator searching for the elusive Mike Longshott, author of a series of pulp fiction novels that includes “Osama Bin Laden: Vigilante.”
Akin Ajayi reviewed Osama for Midnight East, read the complete review here.

Author and film critic Hannah Brown will be reading from her novel If I Could Tell You at Tmol Shilshom bookstore in Jerusalem, Tuesday, October 30, 2012 at 19:00.
An emotional adventure – poignant, funny and smart – the novel depicts the lives of four very different women in New York, bound together by a common bond as the mothers of children diagnosed with autism. Drawing on her personal experiences, Brown, the long-time movie critic at the Jerusalem Post, offers insight into the rarely discussed world of the parent endeavoring to …

In 1965, the poet Mahmoud Darwish (1941-2008) recited his poem “Identity Card” before a large gathering in Nazareth. The opening lines, “Write down! I am an Arab”, are echoed in Marwan Makhoul’s poem “An Arab at Ben Gurion Airport”. On Saturday evening, these words were recited again at the Arab-Hebrew Theater in Jaffa, where a diverse and enthusiastic audience gathered to celebrate the new translation of Makhoul’s book, Land of the Sad Passiflora (published by Keshev). “An Arab at Ben Gurion Airport” was recited in Hebrew by the editor, Almog …

Leading poet Marwan Makhoul will launch the Hebrew translation of his book Land of the Sad Passiflora, edited by Almog Behar, and published by Keshev.  A festive launch party will be held on Saturday, September 29, 2012 at the Jaffa Theatre, 10 Mifratz Shlomo Street, Jaffa, at 20:00.
Featured at the event will be guest speakers Professor Sasson Somekh, poet Ronnie Somekh and Professor Rafi Weichert; and Almog Behar will converse with poet Marwan Makhoul. The evening will be hosted by Norman Issa and singer Mira Awad will perform.
I became acquainted …