The Whole Megillah- Author’s Notebook | The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights by Kitty ZeldisZeldis, Kitty. The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights. New York: HarperCollins, 2022. 345 pages. Writing the Past (WTP): What motivated you to write Dressmakers of Prospect Heights?Kitty Zeldis (KZ): I had long been interested in New Orleans, a place that figures importantly in … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field Notes–February 1, 2023Some very quick things: Have a good week!Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field Notes–January 25, 2023Some very quick things: Have a good week!Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field Notes–January 18, 2023Some very quick things: Have a good week!Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field Notes–January 11, 2023Happy 2023! Some very quick things: What 2023 writing goals have you set for yourself?Barbara Krasner
- Author’s Notebook | My Name Is Hamburger by Jacqueline JulesJacqueline Jules, My Name Is Hamburger. Kar-Ben, 2022, 240 pp. The Whole Megillah (TWM): What motivated you to write this story? Why verse?Jacqueline Jules (JJ): I love writing in verse. Before I ever wrote anything in prose, I wrote poems. … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field Notes–January 4, 2023Happy 2023! Some very quick things: What 2023 writing goals have you set for yourself?Barbara Krasner
- #52snapshots 2022 | Week 52–Your Town’s Famous Residents, Ghosts, and LegendsThe final prompt of this blog series asks us to write about famous residents, ghosts, and/or legends from our hometown or current town. I actually wrote a book about this, Legendary Locals of Kearny, New Jersey (Arcadia, 2015). I wrote … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field Notes–December 28, 2022Some very quick things: Happy New Year! Here’s to a great 2023 for writing!Barbara Krasner
- #52snapshots 2022 | Week 51–The Color WheelThe prompt this week asks us to focus on colors: Choose a color, make a list of objects with that color, choose one object to write about. I choose green–and blue–and wrote a poem that involved another person who shares … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Author’s Notebook | The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights by Kitty Zeldis
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
The Whole Megillah 