The Whole Megillah- Mid-Week Field NotesThree quick things this week: A client of mine at the Olswanger Literary LLC agency saw that my middle-grade novel in verse, 37 Days at Sea: Aboard the MS St. Louis, 1939, is on amazon for pre-sale. Thanks, Joanne Fritz! … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Editor’s Notebook | Lili Rosenstreich about Kalaniot BooksThe Whole Megillah (TWM): Tell us about Kalaniot Books. How, when, and why was it founded? Lili Rosenstreich (LR): After a lifetime of work in the mainstream book world, my partner (in life as well as business), Mitchel Weiss and … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- #52snapshots–Week 3During two of the Amherst Writers sessions I participated in last week, I drafted my second of #52snapshots. This was a different kind of essay, because it needed factual information about my ancestral shtetl of Kozlow (from a page of … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Thursday LinksHere are this week’s links: From The Librarians blog (thanks, Erika Dreifus!): Rebuilding Isaac Bashevis Singer’s mother’s shtetl of Bilgoraj From the Rutgers University Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life: “A Rosenberg of Any Other Name: A History … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field NotesThree quick things this week: For two weeks now I have set aside an hour on Fridays to engage in collage. For me, it’s a good way to end the week and get into a different headspace for Shabbos. My … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- #52snapshots–Week 2My first snapshot about my paternal great-grandmother, Bryna Dvorkin Krasner, is now drafted, thanks to an Amherst Writers memoir group I’ve been writing with since August 2020. I have added portraits of her and my great-grandfather, Mordechai (Mottel) Krasner, to … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Thursday LinksHere are this week’s links: From the Jewish Literary Journal: “The Klezmer Clarinet” by Mel Goldberg From Creative Nonfiction: More craft webinars to come From Allison K. Williams: The Year of the Writer From Jane Friedman: Upcoming online classes, reasonably priced … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field NotesThree quick things this week: My writing goals for 2021 include working on two new book-length projects, one adult hybrid of found poetry and prose and one YA historical novel in verse. To fuel inspiration, I’m going to read, read, … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- #52snapshots–Week 1This week begins a new The Whole Megillah feature based on a Creative Nonfiction webinar given last week by memoirist/essayist Sonja Livingston. She titled it “52 Snapshots.” Livingston defines a snapshot as a written description of a scene or image … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field NotesThree quick things this week: For my “Artist Date” this week, I engaged in an evening of “Soul Collage.” I created eleven cards that I can use as prompts for my writing. You basically find images that speak to you … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field Notes
Category Archives: Report from Prague
Report from Prague | Finding Franz Kafka
It’s difficult to separate Franz Kafka from Prague and Prague from Franz Kafka. I’ll admit I haven’t really read his work since college when I argued with a college professor about the type of insect into which Gregor Samsa metamorphosed. … Continue reading
Posted in Report from Prague
Tagged Franz Kafka, Prague, Prague photos, Prague Summer Program
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Report from Prague | New Jewish Cemetery
Although I’m back in the States, I’d still like to share some of my Judaic experiences in the Czech Republic. On the Tuesday and Wednesday of my last week in Prague, I took the Metro Line A to the Želivského … Continue reading
Report from Prague | Apology
Dear The Whole Megillah readers, I lost my Internet connection in Prague and was unable to continue blogging while there. But, I’m home now and have so much to share! Stay tuned to posts about Prague’s New Jewish Cemetery, Terezin, … Continue reading
Posted in Report from Prague
Tagged Jewish Prague, Prague Summer Program, Western Michigan University
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Report from Prague | Old Jewish Cemetery, Part 2
Symbols in the Old Jewish Cemetery of Prague Dating from the late 16th century, tombstones in Prague’s Old Jewish Cemetery bear a variety of symbols. Some of these, such as the hands of the Kohanes or the pitcher of the … Continue reading
Report from Prague | Old Jewish Cemetery, Part 1
The Old Jewish cemetery of Prague is a daunting site. About 12,000 graves in eleven layers hold the remains of Europe’s oldest existing Jewish community. The oldest grave — Avigdor Kara The oldest grave in this cemetery that abuts the … Continue reading
Posted in Report from Prague
Tagged Hendl Bassevi, MaHaRaL, Old Jewish Cemetery Prague, Prague Jewish cemetery, Rabbi Lev, Rabbi Loew
4 Comments
Report from Prague — The Jewish Museum
Today members of our Jewish Studies class, along with a bunch of others from our Prague Summer Program, were guided through the multi-stop Jewish Museum by Dr. Tomas Kraus, executive director of the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech … Continue reading
Report from Prague – Day One
Ahoj, Whole Megillah readers! As some of you know, I was named a finalist for a fiction fellowship at Western Michigan University’s Prague Summer Program. So, here I am in Prague, where I’ll be taking courses in fiction and Jewish … Continue reading
Posted in Report from Prague
Tagged Eric Kimmel, Franz Kafka, Jewish Prague, Maisel synagogue, Shofar Books
7 Comments
