Special Pre-Festival Event Whip up the Words An Evening of Poetry
THURSDAY NOV 12
8:30PM
FREE
You don't have to be a poet to join David Silverberg and Pandora's Collective in an evening of spoken word, poetry and word whips.
Toronto spoken word artist, David Silverberg, kicks off the evening with a taste for slam poetry and haiku. David is artistic director of The Toronto Poetry Project. He is the author of Bags of Wires and edited Canada’s first spoken word anthology, Mic Check.
Pandora's Collective poets use words and rhythms to paint verbal images inspired by Lorne Greenberg’s photography exhibit, Visions of the Promised Land. The audience is encouraged to participate during the open mic portion of the evening.
Poets: Sita Carboni, Steven R. Duncan, Bill McNamara, Hannah Scott, David Shewell, Ms. Spelt and Diane Tucker
Co-presented with the Isaac Waldman Jewish Public Library,
the Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery and Pandora’s Collective
With generous support from Rabbi Yosef Wosk
WEDNESDAY november 18
Special Pre-Festival Event Vancouver - Like No Other Author signing & photo exhibition
Sharon Tenenbaum
WEDNESDAY NOV 18
7:30PM
FREE
Inspired by a life-changing journey to South East Asia, Sharon Tenenbaum returned to Vancouver and began to see her hometown through a new pair of eyes. Her backyard discoveries gave birth to Vancouver–Like No Other, a breathtaking collection of award winning photos, enhanced with historical vignettes. Tenenbaum has won first place in various international photography competitions and her work has been featured in National Geographic.
Co-presented with the Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery
SATURDAY november 21
Opening Night A Man of the People One of Israel's Greats Visits our Stage
Meir Shalev
Host | Eleanor Wachtel
SATURDAY NOV 21
7:30PM
Norman Rothstein Theatre
$18.00
‘Intelligent and poignant, Victoria Day has echoes of Ang Lee’s 1997, The Ice Storm.’ –Globe and Mail
This critically acclaimed film, which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, is written and directed by Toronto award-winning writer David Bezmozgis, marking his transition from short stories to feature film.
Like Bezmozgis’ short fiction, which focused on Russian Jewish immigrants seeking paradise in the strip-malls and high-rise confines of Toronto’s Bathurst Street, the story of Victoria Day is overwhelmingly informed by the writer’s own experiences.
‘Victoria Day has been eight years in the making,’ says Bezmozgis. ‘For people who know my work, [the film] will seem familiar. For others, it will be familiar in the way that teenage experience is familiar to us all.’
David Bezmozgis’ ground-breaking, critically-acclaimed collection of short stories, Natasha and Other Stories, was short-listed for the Governor General’s award. He was born in Riga, Latvia, and lives in Toronto, where he is working on his second book.
Co-presented with the Vancouver Jewish Film Festival
Hebrew Book Exchange
SUNDAY NOV 22
12:00 - 2:00pm
FREE
Out with the old, in with the new…bring in your used Hebrew books and exchange them for new used books. Meet new friends, mingle with other Israeli book lovers and discover some hidden gems.
‘Karen X. Tulchinsky does for Toronto what Mordecai Richler did for Montreal.’ –BC Book World
Have a great idea for a novel, but you don't know where to start? Join award-winning author Karen X. Tulchinsky in a hands-on novel writing workshop. For new and emerging writers, we’ll cover the basic rules of writing, getting started, how to “crank out a first draft” and the cure for writer’s block. Tulchinsky will also lead participants in some writing exercises.
Karen X. Tulchinsky is an award-winning novelist and screenwriter. Her novel, The Five Books of Moses Lapinsky, was a Toronto Book Award finalist and winner of One Book One Vancouver 2008. A graduate of the prestigious Canadian Film Centre, Tulchinsky has written for numerous television shows and has adapted her novel into a screenplay. She currently teaches at the UBC Writing Centre.
Publishing Workshop Making Waves in Self-Publishing
Instructors | Jo Blackmore, Granville Island Publishing &
David Kirkpatrick, author
Finally your manuscript is finished and ready for the next step. What chance do you have of getting picked up by a traditional publishing house? You decide to self-publish, but you want it to look good. You’ve heard it’s hard to get distribution. And while you can do it alone, perhaps you need a bit of help.
In this workshop you will learn the process of getting your book self-published so that it has a good chance of being successful and ready to be promoted, distributed and sold in bookstores, here and abroad.
Join in the conversation between Jo Blackmore, owner of Granville Island Publishing since 1998, and David Kirkpatrick author of In Praise of Strong Women. Please bring a 30-word description of your book project.
Sponsored by Granville Island Publishing
The History of Winnipeg's Jewish Community
Allan Levine
Coming of Age: A History of the Jewish People of Manitoba
‘A fascinating historical account of one of the most creative Jewish communities on this planet. Well worth reading.’ –Allan Gotlieb, former Canadian Ambassador to Washington
‘Coming of Age is a remarkable work, filled with riveting stories, striking illustrations and
testimony to intensive research and careful thought. The book itself is a work of art.’ –Winnipeg Free Press.
Allan Levine is a Winnipeg based historian and author of ten books. Levine also writes for the Globe and Mail, the Winnipeg Free Press, and the National Post.
Sponsored by Jewish Seniors’ Alliance of Greater Vancouver and
Jewish Museum & Archives of BC
‘You’re in for a novel that’s truly novel. Breaking new ground in graceful, unselfconscious, and very funny prose, Stanger-Ross explores the force of thwarted mother-love – its power both to harm and to ultimately heal.’–Ellis Avery, The Teahouse Fire
Ilana Stanger-Ross has received several prizes for her fiction, including a Timothy Findley Fellowship. Sima’s Undergarments for Women, her debut novel, has been nominated for the Sophie Brody Prize.
Personal Encounters
Adam Jones & Nina Krieger Evoking Genocide: Scholars and Activists Describe the Works That Shaped Their Lives
SUNDAY NOV 22
3:30PM
FREE
Evoking Genocide compiles sixty essays by writers in the field of genocide studies who pay tribute to the art and media that influenced their engagement with crimes against humanity. Subjects include films, songs, sculptures, and even a Lego set! In an accessible and personal way, contributors explore their relationships with the works in question. Evoking Genocide makes an important contribution to the study of the art and culture of mass atrocity.
Presented with support from The Lövi Memorial Endowment Fund of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. Established by the Maté family in memory of Dr. Joseph Lövi and Anna Abrahamsohn Lövi of Kosicze, Slovaki, who died in the gas chambers of Auschwitz on June 4, 1944; and in the memory of Dr. Marta Lövi, daughter of Joseph and Anna, who survived the horrors of Auschwitz and Stuffhoft concentration camps. The Lövi Fund sponsors Holocaust education events in the community.
Rachel Epstein
Who's Your Daddy?
SUNDAY NOV 22
5:00PM
Rhizome Cafe
317 East Broadway
FREE
The West coast launch of Rachel Epstein’s groundbreaking collection of non-fiction writing Who's Your Daddy?
This unique work brings vital insights into discussions about queer parenting, with voices from Canada, the US, England and Australia. Contributors include Makeda Silvera, Ann-Marie MacDonald, and John Greyson on topics such as adoption, queering up kids’ books, experiences of donor dads, and legislative recognition.
Rachel Epstein has been a queer parenting activist & educator for twenty years and co-ordinates the LGBTQ Parenting Network in Toronto. Epstein is the 2008 winner of the Steinert & Ferreiro Award, recognizing her contributions to the support, recognition, and inclusion of queer parents and their children in Canada.
Co-sponsored by Rhizome Cafe and Little Sisters Bookstore
The Need to Tell Two Writers Recount the Tragedy of Senseless Deaths
Terry Gould Murder Without Borders: Dying for the Story in the World's Most Dangerous Places
Hester Rumberg
Ten Degrees of Reckoning: A True Story of a Family’s Love and the Will to Survive
Host | Sheryl MacKay
An evening of emotion and inspiration as two writers share powerful stories of tragedy, loss and courage.
‘Murder Without Borders is a book of love and passion. The portraits of slain journalists who reported from the world’s most dangerous places are unquestionably tragic, but this book is uplifting and even inspiring.’–Joel Simon, the Committee to Protect Journalists
Terry Gould is an investigative journalist whose best-selling books and articles have garnered forty-eight awards and honours. A passionate and gifted speaker, Gould has enthralled audiences around the world. Murder Without Borders is the recent winner of the Canadian Journalists For Free Expression's award for Bravery in Journalism.
‘Ten Degrees of Reckoning celebrates the love and spirit of adventure of the Sleavin family and tells in harrowing detail the tragedy that claims the lives of three out of four of its members. To people who say: I can’t read such a sad story, I say only, you must.’ –Ann Hood, The Knitting Circle
A gripping, true story of a family’s love, of profound loss, and of a remarkable woman who decided to live when others might have decided otherwise. After forty-four hours at sea, her back broken in several places, paralyzed below the waist, Judith—alone among her family—miraculously survived a catastrophe at sea. News of the collision made headlines around the world, but Judith, distraught, never spoke to the press, until now.
Hester Rumberg is an experienced ocean sailor, with thousands of nautical miles under her belt. Together with Judith Sleavin, she established The Sleavin Family Foundation, dedicated to promoting maritime safety throughout the world. Hester was, and will always be, the godmother of Annie Rose Sleavin.
Sheryl MacKay is the much beloved host of CBC’s popular weekend morning show North by Northwest.
Sponsored by The National Council of Jewish Women
Remembering Mordechai
Jacob Richler
(son of Mordechai Richler) and
M.G. Vassanji (biographer)
in conversation
M.G. Vassanji
Mordechai Richler Host | Jacob Richler
The late Mordechai Richler was an award-winning novelist, social commentator and larger-than-life personality. He’s now the subject of a new biography, Mordecai Richler, written by M.G. Vassanji who is an award-winning novelist himself. Expect a wide-ranging and revealing conversation when Vassanji talks with writer Jacob Richler, Mordechai’s son.
Vassanji’s book, Mordecai Richler, is part of Penguin Books Extraordinary Canadians series. Both Richler and Vassanji are award-winning novelists who regard themselves as outsiders in their respective societies - one a Jew in Quebec, the other an Indian from Tanzania who immigrated to Canada. Their experiences were vastly different but their perspectives as outsiders offer intriguing commonalities. With narrative flair and surprising insights, Vassanji explores the life and artistic quest of the prolific Montreal satirist who died in 2001.
M.G. Vassanji was born in Kenya and raised in Tanzania. Trained as a nuclear physicist, Vassanji is the author of six novels and two collections of short stories. His most recent novel, The Assassin's Song, was shortlisted for both the Giller Prize and the Governor General's Prize for best novel in Canada. Vassanji has won the prestigious Giller Prize twice for fiction and he is a member of the Order of Canada.
Jacob (Two-Two) Richler is a newspaper and magazine journalist, and the son of novelist Mordecai Richler. He was the inspiration for his father's Jacob Two-Two trilogy of children's books. Richler was a long-time restaurant reviewer for the National Post, known for his biting, highly critical reviewing style. Richler has also been a columnist and feature writer for Saturday Night, Financial Post Magazine and Toronto Life, as well as a contributor to GQ, Canadian Living, Fashion, Flare and enRoute. He lives in Toronto.
MONDAY november 23
Eva Wiseman
Puppet
MONDAY NOV 23
1:00PM
FREE
This powerful, fictionalized account of one of the last blood libel trials in Europe is told through the eyes of a young servant woman. Puppet is based on a true episode in Hungary’s history and a court case that took place there in 1883.
Born in Hungary, Eva Wiseman came to Canada when she was a girl. Her novels have won many awards including the McNally Robinson Books for Young People Award and the prestigious Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction.
Wiseman’s book Kanada was short-listed for the Governor-General’s Literary Award. She lives in Winnipeg.
Writing is Fun!
Workshop with Silvana Goldemberg
MONDAY NOV 23
Grades 3-5
2:00PM
FREE
Award-winner Silvana Goldemberg is an Argentine-Canadian author of books and magazines published throughout South America and Canada.
Goldemberg’s stories are filled with humour, rhymes, play on words and an ethical bend targeting young readers. Her latest creation, Be Ha!!ppy, is an on-line magazine encouraging children to live in peace and be creators, not simply spectators of the world.
Sponsored by Vancouver Talmud Torah
Can't Deny the Muse An Emergency Room Doctor, a Labor Lawyer, and a Clinical Psychiatrist Get Hooked on Writing
Dr. Dan Kalla
Cold Plague
Dr. Ron Charach
Cowboys & Bleeding Hearts– Essays on Violence, Health and Identity
Israel Chafetz
Ben's Way Out
Host | Jerry Wasserman
Each of these three panelists have highly demanding, fulfilling and lucrative careers, you’d think they have it all - so what compels them to write? Join in a frank and fascinating discussion with three very different personalities bound by a common Muse.
Dr. Dan Kalla spends his days as an Emergency Room physician at an urban teaching hospital in Vancouver. He is the author of four medical thrillers, two of which have been optioned for feature films and has nearly a million books in print in ten languages.
‘Kalla's well paced medical thriller has twists that surprise us, but always make sense.’
–Entertainment Weekly
‘Plenty of suspense and layering, the kind of scientific detail the fans of the medical thrillers crave. Recommended to fans of Robin Cook and other such A-listers…’ –Booklist
Dr. Ron Charach, winner of the Canadian Jewish Award for Poetry, has written nine books. Dr. Charach lives in Toronto where he is both a psychiatrist and a poet.
‘Beautifully written in a style that flows like water over a precipice, this is an excellent and provocative analysis of why and how we must change the way we approach violence in North America’ –Dr. James Orbinski, An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarian Action for the 21st Century.
Israel Chafetz is a partner in a Vancouver law firm. He has published short stories and articles for numerous journals, and gives lectures on the law.
In this humorous and thoughtful fiction debut, a young Jewish attorney considers his traditions and the ups and downs of life. Many readers will recognize a little of Ben Stein in their own lives, as he juggles his pioneering and conservative sides with comic results.
Jerry Wasserman is a Professor of English and Theatre at UBC. He has written and lectured
widely on Canadian theatre, modern fiction, dramatic literature, theatre history and music, and is editor of the anthology Modern Canadian Plays.
Sponsored by Congregation Beth Israel
TUESDAY november 24
Rae Mate
Crocodile Play
TUESDAY NOV 24
Grades K-1
11:00AM
2:00PM
FREE
Details coming up.
Sponsored by Vancouver Talmud Torah
Don Calame
Swim the Fly
TUESDAY NOV 24
Grades 10-12
10:00AM
FREE
‘Calame delivers a fast-paced, well-structured story that is laced with hilarity, sweetness and wisdom. If adults can get past the naughty stuff, Swim the Fly is, in fact, the sort of book that could tweak many boys to the fun of reading.’ – Quill & Quire
Swim the Fly tells the story of three adolescent boys with a single goal: to see a real naked girl. The result? Razor-sharp. Rapid-fire. Raunchy, of course. And beyond hilarious.
Don Calame is a screenwriter whose film projects include Employee of the Month and Hounded. Of his many prior occupations, his most satisfying was teaching elementary school for four years in Los Angeles. Swim the Fly is his first novel for young adults. He lives in British Columbia.
‘Gina’s stories have always been worth telling’–Wayson Choy
In this collection of short stories, Gina Roitman has captured her own experience as the daughter of Holocaust survivors living in Montreal in the 1950’s and ‘60’s.
Gina Roitman was born in Germany in 1948 and lived in the Pocking-Waldstadt Displaced Persons Camp before immigrating to Canada with her parents at 18 months of age. Roitman is an award-winning writer and poet whose stories have aired on CBC Radio and appeared in numerous publications.
Presented with support from The Lövi Memorial Endowment Fund of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. Established by the Maté family in memory of Dr. Joseph Lövi and Anna Abrahamsohn Lövi of Kosicze, Slovaki, who died in the gas chambers of Auschwitz on June 4, 1944; and in the memory of Dr. Marta Lövi, daughter of Joseph and Anna, who survived the horrors of Auschwitz and Stuffhoft concentration camps. The Lövi Fund sponsors Holocaust education events in the community.
WEDNESDAY november 25
Rona Arato
On a Canadian Day, Nine Story Voyages through History
WEDNESDAY NOV 25
Grades 5-9
9:00AM &
1:15PM
FREE
In this groundbreaking book, Rona Arato’s arresting writing introduces nine engaging fictional characters, and through their stories situates and captivates young readers in nine pivotal moments in Canadian history.
Rona Arato has been a writer and editor for over 25 years. Her work has appeared in magazines and newspapers in Canada and the United States.
Sponsored by Vancouver Talmud Torah and King David High School
From the Old World
to the New Exploring the Fusion of Past and Present
Marina Sonkina Tractorina’s Travels
Rhea Tregebov The Knife Sharpener’s Bell
Host | Nancy Richler
‘Sonkina's writing has the linguistic piquancy of fusion cuisine. These stories don't taste like borscht or pea soup. They taste like fillets of elk in a hot paprika sauce.’ –George Payerle, The Writers’ Union of Canada
Originally from Moscow, Marina Sonkina was a Professor of Russian Literature at Moscow State University, until—escaping political and intellectual oppression—she emigrated to Canada in 1987. Sonkina now divides her time between teaching at SFU and UBC, and her writing.
Rhea Tregebov is the author of six collections of poetry; five children’s books and editor of numerous anthologies of fiction, poetry and essays. Her poetry has been awarded the Malahat Review Long Poem Award, the Prairie Schooner Readers’ Choice Award and the Pat Lowther Award. Tregebov is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia.
In the tradition of Michael Ondaatje’s Anil’s Ghost and Anne Michaels’ Fugitive Pieces, Tregebov explores that territory where the personal and the political intersect. The Knife Sharpener’s Bell is an unforgettable novel that draws us into the lives of its characters with compassion and recognition.
Nancy Richler is the author of Throwaway Angels and Your Mouth is Lovely. Richler lives in Vancouver where she is nearing completion of her next novel.
Sponsored by Congregation Schara Tzedeck and
Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture
Confrontation, Controversy and Censorship An Unlikely Activist goes Head to Head with the Canadian Government
Ezra Levant Shakedown - How the Government is Undermining Democracy
in the Name of Human Rights
‘…Ezra may well have written the most important public affairs book this year.’ –The National Post.
‘I read Shakedown and I am awed at Levant's persistence and powers of endurance.’ –Rex Murphy, in the Globe & Mail
Part memoir, part investigative journalism, this is a shocking and controversial look at the corruption of Canada’s Human Rights Commissions. As the publisher of the Western Standard, Ezra Levant was charged with discrimination by the Government of Alberta for publishing the Danish cartoons of Mohammed to illustrate a news story, thus becoming the only person in the world to face legal sanction for printing those cartoons.
Ezra Levant is a lawyer, journalist, political activist and author. He is a frequent radio talk show host known for his plain-spoken opinions.
