Prominent Israeli translator and writer Joanna Chen will talk about the essence of writing and literary translation as a way of listening more intently to other voices in the world. She’ll also be discussing the aftermath of publication of “From the Edges of a Broken World,” Chen’s essay about her experiences in post October 7 Israel. The essay sparked a widely-publicized controversy after many of the editors of Guernica, a literary magazine of global arts and politics that first published “Broken World,” resigned in protest of its publication. You can read the essay as well as stories about the controversy in The New York Times, The Forward, and elsewhere here: https://www.joannachen.com/
Joanna Chen has translated four published books, including My Wild Garden, Meir Shalev; Frayed Light, Yonatan Berg; and Less Like a Dove, Agi Mishol. Her own writing can be found in The Los Angeles Review of Books Blog, where she has a column, and in numerous other journals, such as Mantis, Poet Lore, Consequence and Narratively. She will be in Asheville to participate in the second annual conference of Jewish poets organized by Yetzirah: A Hearth for Jewish Poetry.
This event is jointly sponsored by Congregation Beth Israel and Congregation Beth Ha Tephila. The event will be held at Congregation Beth Ha Tephila, 43 N Liberty St, Asheville, NC 28801
For more information, please contact either Congregation Beth Ha Tephila at (828) 253-4911 or Congregation Beth Israel at (828) 252-8660.
Please join us for this special and timely opportunity to hear from one of Israel’s important translators of Hebrew-language literature into English.