ABOUT THE BOOK:

This anthology, the first of this kind in twenty-five years, collects eighteen astounding works of Jewish fiction.

This is the first anthology of translated multilingual Jewish fiction in 25 years: a collection of 18 splendid stories, each translated into English from a different language: Albanian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Ladino, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, and Yiddish. These compelling, humorous, and moving stories, written by eminent authors that include Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Isaac Babel, and Lili Berger, reflect both the diversities and the commonalities within Jewish culture, and will make you laugh, cry, and think. This beautiful book is easily accessible and enjoyable not only for Jewish readers, but for story-lovers of all backgrounds.

Authors (in the order they appear in the book) include: Elie Wiesel, Varda Fiszbein, S. Y. Agnon, Gábor T. Szántó, Jasminka Domaš, Augusto Segre, Lili Berger, Peter Sichrovsky, Maciej Płaza, Entela Kasi, Norman Manea, Luize Valente, Eliya Karmona, Birte Kont, Michel Fais, Irena Dousková, Mario Levi, and Isaac Babel.

ABOUT THE EDITOR:

http://www.noragold.com

Academic and Professional Work

Dr. Nora Gold received her BSW from McGill University and her MSW and PhD (Social Work, 1990) from University of Toronto. From 1990-2000 she was a tenured professor of social work at McMaster University, and left full-time academia in order to have more time for fiction writing. For the next eighteen years she was affiliated (first as an Associate Scholar and then for six years as its Writer-in-Residence) with OISE/University of Toronto’s Centre for Women’s Studies in Education. This centre closed in 2018, but Gold continues to coordinate the highly regarded reading series that she established there, the Wonderful Women Writers Series, now housed at the Toronto Public Library (Deer Park Branch).

Academic Honours and Research Awards

Gold is the recipient of seven funded research grants, two of them international Canada-Israel collaborations, and two of them from the prestigious Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Two of her studies (both funded by SSHRC) were a nation-wide study of Canadian Jewish women’s experiences of antisemitism and sexism and a longitudinal study of Canadian Jewish girls’ experiences of antisemitism and sexism. The latter was made into a short documentary film, Jewish Girl Power, which can be viewed here.

2003-2007
Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Grant for “Growing up Jewish, Female and Canadian: A Longitudinal Study of Girls Aged 10-18”

1998-2000
Halbert Centre for Canadian Studies Research Grant, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, for “Cross-Cultural Differences in Decision-Making in Child Welfare Regarding the Removal of a Child from the Home: A Canada-Israel Comparison” (Nora Gold with Rami Benbenishty and Rujla Osmo)

1997-1998
Halbert Centre for Canadian Studies Research Grant, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, for “Social Policies and Social Attitudes Regarding Chronically Ill and Disabled People in Canada and in Israel: A Comparative Study” (Nora Gold and Gail Auslander)

1995-1999
Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada Grant for “Developing a Disease Specific Quality of Life Instrument for Children with Inflammatory Bowel Disease” (Nora Gold with Jan Irvine, Principal Investigator, Sylviane Forget, and Robert Issenman)

1995
Received an award (with other authors) from the Jewish Women’s Caucus of the Association for Women in Psychology for her chapter in K. Weiner & A. Moon (Ed.) (1995), “Jewish Women Speak Out: Expanding the Boundaries of Psychology”. Seattle: Canopy Press.

1994-2000
Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Grant for “A National Study of Canadian Jewish Women and their Experiences of Sexism and Antisemitism”

1994-95
McMaster Research Centre for the Promotion of Women’s Health (SSHRC and Health and Welfare Canada) Grant for “The Work-Related Stress of Female Workers in Three Children’s Aid Societies”

1993-1996
Hospital for Sick Children Foundation Grant for “Patients, Families, and Health Care Providers: A Study of Interactions and Outcomes in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease”. (Nora Gold with Susan Watt, Robert Issenman, and Jacqueline Roberts)

1993
Arts Research Board Grant, McMaster University for “A Study of Psychosocial Effects on Families and Patients of Pediatric Crohn’s Disease”. (Associated with a multi-site research project, entitled: “Randomized Control Trial of Elemental Diet vs. Prednisone in the Induction and Treatment of Pediatric Crohn’s Disease”) (Nora Gold with Susan Watt)

1992 & 1993
Nominated by McMaster Students Union for a Teaching Award

1992-1998
Arts Research Board Conference Travel Grants – 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998

1986-1989
National Health & Welfare PhD Fellowship

1985-1986
University of Toronto Open PhD Fellowship

1982
Winner of the Ray Godfrey Essay Competition, Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto

1973-1975

University Scholarships for Academic Achievement, McGill University

MY REVIEW:

18: Jewish Stories Translated From 18 Languages by Nora Gold

In this book the editor is able to get many stories from the Jewish community never translated into English.

Start of the book tells you where the stories came from and by who. During the stories there are footnotes about particular items of interest.

The things I like best are that the Jewish were for the most part able to escape during the war and head to other countries to survive. Their struggles and obstacles and hwo they overcome them is important to me.

Some stories are very tragic, some are a windfall. Love hearing of the traditions and customs that they hope to pass down to the next generations. There are glimpses of proverbs and other prayers. Ends with dedication page.

References are also included at the end of the book. Section also about the author and all they stood for.

Received this review copy from the editor and this is my honest opinion.