JNEntertainment Writing The Jewish Future The world's leading-Jewish literary figures commence a global conversation. 'NI OWEN ALTERMAN Special to The Jewish News E: High-quality article reprints can help your company in many ways: • Increased EXPOSURE for your product or service • Credible, believable information that consumers TRUST • Great SALES tools for trade shows, mailings and media kits • Powerful EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE for consumers and employees Contact (717) 560-2001 for complete information on how article reprints can benefit your company. REPRINT MANAGEMENT SERVICES TM 1/3 0 1998 94 147 West Airport Road Box 5363 Lancaster, PA 17606-5363 Phone: (717) 560-2001 Fax: (717) 560-2063 ow do we create an authentic Jewish culture in an age of "Disneyfication"? How do we create an authentic Jewish religious culture in an age of secularization and funda- mentalism? What links the Jewish cul- tural experience in diverse countries around the world? From Chaim Potok and Tony Kushner to Hillel Halkin and Gabi Gleichman, very different Jewish writ- ers may have some very different answers to these questions as they come together at a February confer- ence titled "Writing the Jewish Future: A Global Conversation." Approximately 40 writers from around the world will convene in the San Francisco Bay Area Feb. 1-3 to discuss the present and future of the Jewish world as a whole, and the role of Jewish writers in it. Each day explores a general theme: Feb. 1: "The Jew as Writer/The Writer as Jew" (at the University of California in Berkley) considers the impact of being a member of both "majority and "minority" cultures. Feb. 2: "The Crisis of Subject Matter: What Jewish Writers Are Writing" (at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco) looks at text and tra- dition, the Holocaust 50 years later and Israel in Jewish writing. Feb. 3: "Jewish Language" (at Stanford University in Palo Alto) focuses on the complexities of transla- tion and the question of bridging the secular and the spiritual. The conference will be a public event, with the public listening in to the writers' conversations and partici- pating in the discussion. The day ses- sions will be followed by related evening programs, also open to the public, including poetry readings and film screenings. "This [year's] conference is, to the best of my knowledge, the first to Owen Alterman is a junior at Princeton University. explore with leading Jewish writers from throughout the world, the impact on their work of a Jewish pub- lic, of Jewish obligations, Jewish themes and preoccupations," said Stanford University Professor Steven Zipperstein, co-chair of the confer- ence's academic advisory committee. The National Foundation for Jewish Culture (NFJC), sponsor of the conference, also organized a confer- ence ten years ago for Israel's 40th the conference may help American Jews appreciate not only the Jewish writers from Israel and the United States, but others as well. The NFJC does more than sponsor once-a-decade literary conferences. Schiffrin said NFJC's work is a "little bit behind the scenes," but that the group supports many projects in the Detroit area or of local interest. The Janice Charach Epstein Museum Gallery in the Maple-Drake Participating Writers North America Max Apple, Chana Bloch, Joseph Epstein, Allegra Goodman, John Hollander, Irena Lepfisz, Tony Kushner, Alan Mintz, Cynthia Ozick, Grace Paley, Chaim Potok, Moacyr Scliar (Brazil), Ilan Stavans (Mexico) ISRAEL Yehuda Amichai, Aharon Appelfeld, Na lm Araydi, Nitza Ben-Dov, Menachem Brinker, Orly Castel- Bloom, Sidra Ezrahi, Hillel Halkin, Yehudit Hendel, Sarni Michael, Nava Semel, Ronny Someck EUROPE Henryk Broder Cynthia Ozick, Yehuda Amichai and Gila Lustiger (Germany), Gabi are among the writers participating in next week's Gleichman (Sweden), conference. Dan Jacobson (England), George Mordechai Richter, Jonathan Konrad (Hungary), Gila Lustiger (Germany), Morman Manea Rosen, Leon Wieseltier (Romania), Emanuel Moses (France), Anthony Rudolf Latin America Victor Perera, (Guatemala), (England) birthday. That event hosted 30 writers from North America and Israel and explored issues dealing with Israel- Diaspora relations. The group hopes this year's version will look into the "larger possibilities of a transnational Jewish culture." "We're hoping to bring some of these [European and Latin American] writers to the attention" of the American audience, said Dan Schiffrin, NFJC's director of commu- nications. With guests like Victor Perera (Guatemala) or Gabi Gleichman (Sweden), Schiffrin said, JCC, the upcoming documentary The Lift and Times of Hank Greenberg and several fellowships are all supported by the foundation. The NFJC is also planning for its national board meet- ing in Detroit next fall. El For tickets to "Writing the Jewish Future," call (415) 896-6824. For more information, including suggested readings from the participating authors, check out the NCJF Web site at http:/www.Jewishculture.org/writ- ers.