October 17, 2023 | 6:30pm | Tickets: $8 Members, $10 General
Started in 1999, and organized by writer Willa Schneberg, this annual event features readings by prominent Oregon Jewish poets and writers. The writers in the 2023 program, who span a range of genres, including fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and essays, will share selections from their work.
Speakers for 2023
Kerry Cohen is the author of 11 books, including the bestselling memoir Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity. She and her work have been featured on The Today Show, Good Morning America, and Dr. Phil. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Modern Love series, Salon, McSweeney’s, and more. She is the Director of the Red Earth Online MFA program and lives with her weirdo pets in Portland, Oregon. www.kerry-cohen.com
William Deresiewicz is an essayist, speaker, and best-selling author. His books include Excellent Sheep, The Death of the Artist, A Jane Austen Education, and The End of Solitude. His work, which has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and many other publications, has been recognized with a Hiett Prize in the Humanities, the National Book Critics Circle’s Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, and a Sydney Award. Bill is a member of the Tivnu: Building Justice board, a Jewish gap year program here in Portland. https://billderesiewicz.com
Miriam Gershow is a novelist and short story writer. Her debut short story collection, Survival Tips, is forthcoming from Propeller Books in 2024. Her novel, Closer, is forthcoming from Regal House in 2025. Her debut novel, The Local News (Spiegel & Grau), was hailed as “unusually credible and precise” and “deftly heartbreaking” by The New York Times. She is the recipient of a Fiction Fellowship from the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing and an Oregon Literary Fellowship. www.miriamgershow.com.
Marvin J. Lurie served on the Oregon Poetry Association Board of Directors (OPA). He was a 2016-17 Fellow at the Attic Institute Atheneum (Master Writing Program). His poetry appears in three anthologies: Port Chicago Poets, Terra Incognita, and Matter II, Volume I, Brick and Mortar Review, and Writersresist.com. Marvin received the Rosemary Sazonoff Creative Writing Contest Award. His chapbook of political poetry is entitled The Covfefe Resistance, and his new collection, Telling Signs was released this year from Finishing Line Press. https://www.marvlurie.com/
Willa Schneberg is a poet, multi-disciplinary artist, curator, and psychotherapist in private practice. She has authored six poetry collections and is the recipient of the Oregon Book Award. Willa co-founded Oregon Jewish Voices, now in its 24th year, with OJMCHE’s Director Judy Margles. Reviewer Ronnie K. Stephens said of The Naked Room (Willa’s new poetry collection relating to mental health), “It is difficult to encapsulate what makes The Naked Room so special…Add Schneberg to the list of authors you turn to, in your own crises and in the crises of others.” willaschneberg.org