by: Stacey Agdern
The festival began on Thursday night as a cross section of literary authors and zinesters discussed the direct impact of Judaism on their writing. It was an inspiring and fascinating, yet esoteric, discussion brought down to basics when each of the authors talked about their research and writing processes. Which was important because the authors wrote a collection of subgenres and time periods, coming at writing from a kaleidoscope of different perspectives.
Saturday’s event began with a progression of childrens’ authors. The featured authors also wrote a wide selection of information; from non-fiction biography to middle grade to picture books. They shared their stories, as well as the path they took to writing what they do. And the stories, as well as the authors
themselves, were both inspiring and engaging. Bindy Bitterman, who wrote and published her first picture book at 92 , shared bits of her life, including how limericks played a huge role in her life and in the picture book she read earlier that morning.
Ruth Spiro told the engaging story of how a wild idea turned into a multi award winning board book series, one scientific concept at a time. And Marlene Targ Brill told the story of her multiple publications, and explained how subjects make the biography.
As the focus changed, author Eden Robins talked about her fascinating adventures (to the bottom of the ocean!) and the history that inspired her newest book, as well as the idea that’s inspiring books to come.
I spoke after Eden, talking about my books and Jewish romances in general, pulling threads together from all of the conversations I’d heard throughout the two days I’d participated in.
And to close out the afternoon, Terry Grant of 3 rd Coast Comics in Chicago gave a beautiful talk about the Jewish history of Comics, showing original art and telling stories that get forgotten.
And Saturday evening finished with a keynote by biographer Jonathan eig, discussing his latest book about Martin Luther King Jr.
All in all, the festival was wonderful, and I cannot wait to see what happens next year.
Stacey Agdern is an award-winning former bookseller who has reviewed romance novels in multiple formats and given talks about various aspects of the romance genre. She incorporates Jewish characters and traditions into her stories so that people who grew up like she did can see themselves take center stage on the page. She lives in New York, not far from her favorite hockey team’s practice facility. Check out her latest book The B’Nai Mitzvah Mistake