Jewish Book Festival
Literary Events
BOOK LAUNCH
SUN SEPT 28, 4:00pm
ALAN TWIGG – Holocaust Hero: The Life and Times of Rudolf Vrba
FREE – Please register HERE
“At long last a worthy biography of one of the most fascinating and important figures in Holocaust History — Rudi Vrba.” – Christopher R. Browning, historian
Holocaust Hero: The Life and Times of Rudolf Vrba is the first in a planned biography series that explores our own Vancouver hero’s life as an escapee, partisan, Nazi hunter, and truth-teller. Rudolf Vrba, a Slovak Jew, escaped Auschwitz in 1944 and co-authored the Vrba-Wetzler Report, which helped save over 200,000 Hungarian Jews. Twigg’s meticulously researched biography draws from interviews, new archival materials, and Vrba’s own family. The book also explores Vrba’s post-war life as a scientist, whistleblower and outspoken critic of institutional silence.
ALAN TWIGG is the founder of BC BookWorld, a veteran journalist and the author of 20 previous books. A recipient of the Order of Canada, he created rudolfvrba.com, the first major website dedicated to Vrba’s legacy.
BOOKS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AND THE AUTHOR WILL BE SIGNING.
ISRAEL’S LEADING WRITER IS COMING TO VANCOUVER!
THU OCT 30, 7:00pm in the Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre
ETGAR KERET – Autocorrect: Stories
Translated by Jessica Cohen and Sondra Silverston
Etgar Keret is the world’s most famous living Israeli author, known for writing short stories that are lean and accessible in style, but whimsical, surrealist, and darkly funny in subject. His work explores life’s smallest, most unremarkable interactions in ways that are profound and unusual. Keret’s seventh story collection is vast in reach, yet grounded in the bewildering absurdity of modern life.
The stories speak to our current moment in time and reveal the fault lines and uncomfortable truths in our society, in a style that is memorably his own. He is famous for his dry, winsome comic sketches, often using fantastical or science-fictional settings, with clever hooks and twists and a melancholic aftertaste.
ETGAR KERET is an Israeli writer and filmmaker. His works have been translated to 49 languages, his writing has appeared in prestigious publications and he has won several awards in film. He teaches creative writing at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
SPONSORED BY THE RONALD ROADBURG FOUNDATION
BOOKS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AND THE AUTHOR WILL BE SIGNING.
JEWISH BOOK MONTH 100 ONE COMMUNITY
TUES NOV 18, 1:00pm ET on Zoom
Rabbi Angela Buchdahl in conversation with Abigail Pogrebin
Click Here to Register for Free Tickets!
From the first Asian-American to be ordained as a rabbi, a stirring account of one woman’s journey from feeling like an outsider to becoming one of the most admired religious leaders in the world. Angela Buchdahl was born in Korea and grew up in Tacoma, Washington, the daughter of a Korean Buddhist mother and Jewish American father. Today, Angela Buchdahl is revered by Jews and non-Jews alike for her invigorating, joyful approach to worship, and her belief in the power of faith, gratitude, and responsibility for each other. Angela’s memoir, Heart of a Stranger is a spiritual guide for everyday living, which is exactly what so many of us crave right now.
Hosted in partnership with JBC’s Network Member Sites.
About the JCC Jewish Book Festival
The Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival is one of Vancouver’s leading cultural and literary events, attracting a large and varied audience of over 5,000 people of all ages. This highly popular community-wide event brings together prominent and emerging Jewish writers and non-Jewish writers on Jewish subject matter.
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2025 Digital Guide
JBF Program-2025-DIGITALAuthor Submissions
The JCC Jewish Book Festival’s mandate is to showcase Jewish writers or non-Jewish writers with Jewish interest subject matter. Submissions information for the 2025 Festival – click here
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The JCC Jewish Book Festival can help you maximize your message to a diverse demographic audience. Corporate and individual Sponsorships are available. Please phone 604-257-5156 or email jbf@jccgv.bc.ca