CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Program in Jewish Culture and Society has organized a lecture series, “21st Century Jewish Writing and the World,” for the 2018-19 academic year that features four award-winning Jewish writers. Each writer will visit both the Urbana-Champaign and Chicago campuses and give a presentation at each location.
The inaugural lecture is 5 p.m. Oct. 8 in the Foreign Languages Building, 707 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana, and will feature Ruby Namdar. His novel, “The Ruined House,” won the Sapir Prize, Israel’s most prestigious literary award. His presentation will be followed by a Q&A.
The other lectures are:
Oct. 22 at 5 p.m., Foreign Languages Building, 707 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana: David Bezmozgis, a novelist, short story writer and filmmaker, was included in The New Yorker’s 2010 “20 Under 40” list, celebrating the 20 most promising fiction writers under the age of 40.
Feb. 25 at 5 p.m., Foreign Languages Building, 707 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana: Ayelet Tsabari won the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature and the Edward Lewis Wallant Award for her debut story collection, “The Best Place on Earth.”
April 9 at 5 p.m., Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana: Nicole Krauss is the author of “Great House,” a finalist for the National Book Award, and “The History of Love,” which won the Saroyan Prize for International Literature and France’s Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger. She was one of Granta’s “Best Young American Novelists” in 2007 and was named to The New Yorker’s 2010 “20 Under 40” list.
All the events are free and open to the public. More information is available online.
