OCTOBER 28 • 2021 | 21

T

he 70th anniversary of the JCC of 
Metro Detroit’s Jewish Book Fair 
kicks off in November with its 
biggest and most ambitious installment 
yet. The fair will be celebrating with 
programming the entire year: “70 stories 
for 70 years,” with the goal of holding 70 
events in that time frame.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun, a little 
crazy for us, but I think it’s going to be 
great,” said Jaemi Loeb, senior director 
of Cultural Arts at the JCC of Metro 
Detroit.
Every year, the Jewish Book Fair high-
lights diverse authors, curates new Jewish 
writing and promotes the global art of 
Jewish storytelling.
The fair begins with November 
Festival Week (Nov. 6-14). The festival in 
November will be 100% virtual. 
More events are being planned 
through spring and summer 2022 and 
more events will be added as time goes 
on, with a mix of virtual and in-person 
settings. In-person events starting next 
spring will also be available virtually in a 
hybrid fashion. 
Loeb says this year’s fair has a deliber-
ately wide range of programming. 
“We have everything from a panel at 
Comic Con to a mah jong event to books 
about the Holocaust, both fiction and 
nonfiction. There’s a little something for 
everyone.”
The panel did a deep dive into the 
history of Jews in comics and featured E. 
Lockhart, author of the new DC graphic 
novel Whistle, and Roy Schwartz, author 
of Is Superman Circumcised? The Complete 
Jewish History of the World’s Greatest Hero
(See story on page 12).
Events during November Festival 

Week include comedian and actor 
Wayne Federman discussing his new 
book, The History of Stand-Up: From Mark 
Twain to Dave Chappelle, with local come-
dy legend Alan Muskovitz; an event with 
writer and producer Ira Rosen discuss-
ing his new book, Ticking Clock: Behind 
the Scenes at 60 Minutes, with former Fox 
2 News Anchor Sherry Margolis; an 
event with craft artist and educator Jodi 
Eichler-Levine discussing her new book, 
Painted Pomegranates and Needlepoint 
Rabbis: How Jews Craft Resilience and Create 
Community; and more.
“Every year, we try to bring people 
something new and different and really 
represent and support the rich diversity 
that is the Jewish world,” Loeb said. “Our 
programming this year is an attempt 
to do that. We’re always looking for the 
story that no one has heard before or the 
author that no one expected. That’s our 
underlying impetus.” 
All announced events are free except 
for two events: November Festival Week’s 
opening night event with Josh Malerman, 
bestselling author of Bird Box and its new 
sequel Malorie, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. 
Malerman and his band the High 
Strung will be featured in a live broad-
cast from the Berman for an evening 
filled with songs, stories about growing 
up at the JCC of Metro Detroit and an 
inside look into what happens when your 
book becomes a blockbuster movie. The 
streaming event on JWatch is $10 per 
viewer.
Also, on Saturday, Nov. 13, join Eddie 

Shapiro, author of A Wonderful Guy, tenor 
Josh Young and mezzo-sprano Alta 
Dantzler who will host an evening of live 
performances, stories and a celebration of 
the great men of Broadway broadcast live 
from the Berman. Also $10 per viewer. 

For the full list of events and more information, visit 

https://culturalarts.jccdet.org/bookfair.

Detroit Jewish Book 
Fair’s yearlong festival 
gears up with November 
Festival Week.

‘70 Stories for 70 Years’

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Eddie 
Shapiro

PHOTOS COURTESY JCC

Josh 
Malerman

