Books, Poetry & Short Stories

Poets, songwriter set for May 9 Jewish Poets session

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — Two seasoned published poets and a young prize-winning song writer will be the featured presenters at the final Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices evening of the 2017 season. This program will take place in the JCC’s Astor Judaica Library on Tuesday, May 9 at 7  p.m. Following the featured poets, there […]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eileen Wingard, San Diego Calendar

Genizah treasures to go on exhibit

CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND (Press Release)– Treasures from the world’s largest and most important collection of medieval Jewish manuscripts – chronicling 1,000 years of history in Old Cairo – will go on display in Cambridge this week for a six-month-long exhibition at Cambridge University Library. Discarded History: The Genizah of Medieval Cairo opens to the public on

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East

Music therapy for those with brain disorders

Musicophilia, Tales of Music and the Brain, by Oliver Sacks, Published by Picador, 2008 By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — The author, who has written several books about various aspects of psychology, among them The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, and Awakenings, has extensive experience of working with individuals who have

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Oprah Winfrey helps ‘Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks’ come alive on HBO

One day, circa 2000, Rebecca Skloot was riding in a car with Deborah Lacks, whose late mother, Henrietta, had posthumously and unwittingly contributed to some of the most important medical research of the 20th century. At the time, Skloot was a scrappy but barely published young journalist, and it would take a decade for her

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

How Did Gov. Cuomo Make $783,000 In Royalties From A Book That Sold Only 3,200 Copies?

Fox News Channel parent News Corporation may be wrapped up in the sexual harassment accusations surrounding host Bill O’Reilly, but the company is facing another long-running scandal involving what appear to be exuberant payments to a Democrat. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose memoir was published by the News Corp.-owned HarperCollins in 2014, saw his

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, USA

Foreign Ministry hits Japan’s use of Mein Kampf

Fascism and militarism “must be held thoroughly accountable and eradicated” and Japan must educate its young people with “the right view of history”, a Foreign Ministry official said on Tuesday. The comment came after reports that the Japanese Cabinet approved using what it described as “helpful and appropriate” content from Adolf Hitler’s infamous book, Mein

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International

Egyptian author gives voice to homosexuals in taboo-breaking novel

Mohammed Abdel-Nabi’s novel on homosexuality is one of six works competing for the Arab world’s top literary prize on April 25. Even though same-sex relations remain taboo in his home country, the author tells dpa that Egyptian society is becoming receptive to discussion on issues long regarded as off-limits. Cairo (dpa) – For the second

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International

BOOK REVIEW: ‘John Quincy Adams and the Politics of Slavery’

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS AND THE POLITICS OF SLAVERY By David Waldstreicher and Matthew Mason Oxford University Press, $29.95, 308 pages Good biography should not just bring the subject individual into clearer focus, it also should inform us about how that life has something to tell us about current events. This meticulously annotated selection from the

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, USA

Trump’s First Easter Egg Roll Was One for the Books

President Donald Trump’s family and cabinet did more than just host 21,000 people for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday—they finally got caught reading. First lady Melania Trump perched on a seat before a crowd of children and read aloud “Party Animals,” a 2010 book by TV host Kathie Lee Giffords, telling

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, USA

Hemingway’s love letter to Marlene Dietrich goes on the auction block

“Dearest Marlene: I always love you and admire you and I have all sorts of mixed up feelings about you […] please know that I love you always and forget you sometimes as I forget my heart beats. But it beats always.” The letter was addressed to Marlene Dietrich and written by Ernest Hemingway, one

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

A memoir of travel, encounters with the famous

As I Remember It by Cynthia Citron, © 2017 Xlibris; ISBN 9780152-4571627. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Given that Nancy and I are mentioned in Cynthia Citron’s book, I feel a bit embarrassed recommending it to you. But the fact is, Cynthia also writes in her memoir about important people with whom she

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Cynthia Citron, Donald H. Harrison, International, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food, USA

A young author profiles his grandmother

Finding Maria: A young man’s search for his grandmother, and himself by Peter Szabo; © 2016;; ChickadeePrince; ISBN 9780991-327447; 138 pages; $11.99. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Late in his grandmother Maria’s life, Peter Szabo came to realize that as a cultured woman who had survived the Holocaust in Hungary and had withstood

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

Cli-fi, quidditch, latte art among new words

By Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — When the Oxford Dictionaries in Britain made a list of new words it was accepting into its chambers for 2017, J.K. Rowling’s ”Harry Potter” novels had its “quidditch term accepted, along with “latte art,” “floordrobe,” “snoozefest” and ”cli-fi.” Words matter, and the editors of this British dictionary in London

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Travel and Food

Lauded Russian poet Yevtushenko buried in Moscow

The much lauded Soviet-era writer and poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko has been laid to rest in Moscow. Had lunch at CDL Central house of Writers in Moscow. Beautiful establishment witch was a Mason’s lodge pic.twitter.com/MrzJXBiArH— Telemacus (@msiah) July 28, 2016 Mourners paid their respects at a civil ceremony at the ‘Writers House’ in the Russian capital.

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Obituaries & memorials