Program Description
Event Details
This is a tough moment for Jewish writers and some in the publishing industry are uneasy about Jewish-themed books and articles. This climate is troubling not just for writers but for readers as well.
Join novelist Barbara Josselsohn, author and publisher Fredric Price, and a panel of Jewish writers for a thoughtful discussion about what is happening and where things go from here. A Q&A will follow the talk.
Fredric Price – who grew up and still lives in Westchester -- is the founder, publisher, and editor of Fig Tree Books LLC, which is dedicated to publishing the best literature of the American Jewish experience. He is also the award-winning novelist of My Mother’s Son and Jacobo’s Rainbow, writing under the pseudonym David Hirshberg.
Barbara Josselsohn is the best-selling author of eight novels, including the recently published The Forgotten Italian Restaurant, a sweeping, multi-generational story of the Resistance in northern Italy during World War 2. She teaches fiction writing at The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence and Westport Writers Workshop, and also leads the Writers Center at Scarsdale Library.
List of panelists:
Jacqueline Friedland USA Today and Amazon bestselling author of He Gets That From Me, That’s Not a Thing, and Trouble the Water, Friedland graduated Magna Cum Laude from both the University of Pennsylvania and NYU Law School. She practiced as a commercial litigator at the New York law firms of Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP and Boies, Schiller & Flexner, LLP. After determining that office life did not suit her, Jacqueline began teaching Legal Writing and Lawyering Skills and working on her first book in her limited spare time. Finally deciding to embrace her passion and pursue writing full time, Jacqueline returned to school to earn her Masters of Fine Arts from Sarah Lawrence College, graduating from the program in 2016.
Haya Molnar was born in Bucharest, Romania under Communist rule. Her parents were Holocaust survivors who hid her Jewish identity to protect her from anti-Semitism. When she discovered that she is Jewish — Haya’s life and her self-identity changed forever. Haya’s family emigrated to the US when she was thirteen. Even while struggling to learn English, Haya loved to write. As an adult, she became a copywriter and creative director at global advertising agencies, winning over 25 industry awards. Haya’s first book, "Under a Red Sky: Memoir of a Childhood in Communist Romania" about growing up and escaping Communism was published by Farrar Straus Giroux and won the National Jewish Book Award.
Samantha Greene Woodruff is the author of two #1 Amazon bestselling historical fiction novels, The Lobotomist’s Wife(2002) and The Trade Off (2024). Sam has a BA in history from Wesleyan University and an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business. After studying in the continuing education program at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, Woodruff completed her first novel, The Lobotomist’s Wife, which was an Amazon First Reads pick. The Trade Off was amongst She Reads Best Historical Fiction of 2024, and is a finalist for for three Zibby awards. Sam’s writing has appeared in Newsweek, Writer’s Digest, Female First, LitHub, Writer’s Read and more. In addition, she has contributed an essay entitled “Jew-ish” about her lifelong conflicted relationship with Judaism, to the anthology, On Being Jewish Now (2024)edited by Zibby Owens. All proceeds from the sale of her book will go to Artists Against Antisemitism, a non-profit founded in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks in Israel. Woodruff lives in southern Connecticut with her husband, two children, two dogs and a small reptile zoo.