Jewish Book Fair '95
Fri., Nov. 10, 1995
theme of the 12th Annual Austin Jewish Book Fair, which began last week with lectures from Tikkun editor and publisher Michael Lerner and Boychicks in the Hood author Robert Eisenberg. The fair's second and final week, which is sponsored by The Jewish Community Center but open to the general public, features lectures on traditional psychology, history, storytelling, and children's literature in various locations. Among the events:
* Faye Moskowitz, editor of Her Face in the Mirror: Jewish Women on Mother and Daughters, will discuss the dynamics of the mother-daughter relationship as the keynote luncheon speaker at 11:30am, Friday at Congregation Beth Israel (3901 Shoal Creek Blvd). Her Face in the Mirror collects poems, essays, and short stories that explore the impact of feminism, immigration, the Holocaust, and assimilation on the family. In addition to also writing And the Bridge Is Love and A Leak in the Heart, Moskowitz is a frequent contributor to the New York Times Magazine and is an associate professor and director of the Creative Writing Program at George Washington University. Admission is $5, with Central Market offering boxed lunches for an additional $5.
* Storyteller Rafe Martin, a previous winner of the Parent's Choice Gold Awards for his books and tapes and a featured presenter at last year's American Library Association National Convention, will make two appearances at the fair -- one targeted at adults and one at children. The adults' show will feature Martin's original stories and the presentation of Japanese, Native American, and Iataka tales on Saturday at Beth Israel. Tickets are $5 for the 7:30pm show. On Sunday, Martin will host the "All Kids Day Storyfest '95" from 2-5pm at Webb Middle School (601 E. St. Johns Ave). Storyfest, $1.50 for children and free for adults, will feature food, music, costumes, puppets, dance, and crafts with showcases centered on African American, Hispanic, Native American, Chinese, and Jewish culture.
* Peggy Orenstein will speak about the confidence gap between adolescent girls and boys, the subject of her book SchoolGirls: Young Women, Self-Esteem and the Confidence Gap, at the Austin Diagnostic Medical Center Monday. Admission is $5 for the 7:30pm lecture. Orenstein, the former managing editor of Mother Jones magazine, has been published in the New York Times, Vogue, Glamour, and The New Yorker.
* Austinite Hyman Samuelson will close out the fair on Wednesday, with a discussion based on Samuelson's World War II diaries, the subject of Love, War and the 96th Engineers (Colored): The World War II New Guinea Diaries of Captain Hyman Samuelson. Samuelson's lecture and book centers around the experiences of a young, white, Southern Jewish officer in charge of African-American troops, and chronicles race relations on a segregated labor battalion. Admission is $5 for the 7:30pm lecture.
At all Book Fair events, books will be on sale 30 minutes prior to and immediately following the event. Call 331-1144 for additional information.
-- Andy Langer
