The 36th Annual Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival is coming to the comfort of your home February 20 – 25th. The Festival is planning virtual events and conversations with an exciting roster of writers from across Canada, the US, Israel, Great Britain and Chile.
It is hoped that local public health restrictions will allow the Festival to welcome local Vancouver authors to limited-capacity in-person events, the out of town authors will only visit virtually.
Inspired by the idea of “Together But Apart” that pervades our current lives, the festival will bring forth themes of family and connections and stories born of quests and questions. Because times are uncertain. But community is not.
Opening the Festival is Eshkol Nevo, one of Israel’s most successful living writers, whose novel The Last Interview is a literary and psychological page-turner. Then Closing Night, welcomes beloved firecracker actress Tovah Feldshuh whose heartwarming and funny memoir Lilyville is the mother-daughter story reflecting America’s cultural changes and the world’s shifting expectations of women. In between, audiences will find a host of author events and talks, discussing their works.
Before the Festival, local Renaissance man and 2020 Order of Canada recipient Yosef Wosk will launch his new book Memories of Jewish Poland: The 1932 Photographs of Nachum Tim Gidal in a pre-fest event on February 11.
“The Jewish Book Festival strives to spark meaningful and captivating conversations about the written word in every shape and form” says Festival Director, Dana Camil Hewitt. “Arts and stories are more relevant than ever and to us, writers are most essential workers. We strive to support them and re-create the joyful experience of a shared literary event. And while the nucleus of our festival is Jewish-themed, our speakers, events and audience all defy narrow categorization: we provide an interactive forum and showcase for recent publications that revel in the lively and pivotal ideas stemming from the modern world and current reality. We are attuned to timely and universal themes and we thrive on the interdisciplinary, inviting music, photography and performance art into our events”.
Tickets for most events are pay-what-you-can or $90 Gold Pass includes all events. For details of the Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival, digital program guide and updates on events visit jccgv.com/jewish-book-festival