Tel Aviv Writers Group looking for members!

Hello everyone,
A writers group in Tel Aviv is looking for a couple of new people to add to its five-person membership.
Prospective members must be willing and able to commit to attending at least 80 per cent of meetings.
Meetings are held at 8 o' clock on Monday evenings, in central Tel Aviv, and usually require around 40 minutes of prereading.
Please message adamehad@gmail.com if interested!
A

Poetry reading tonight at Tmol Shilshom

Stewart Florsheim was born in New York City, the son of refugees from Hitler's Germany. He has received several awards for his poetry and was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He has been widely published in magazines and anthologies. Stewart was the editor of Ghosts of the Holocaust, an anthology of poetry by children of Holocaust survivors (Wayne State University Press, 1989). He wrote the poetry chapbook, The Girl Eating Oysters (2River, 2004). In 2005, Stewart won the Blue Light Book Award for The Short Fall From Grace (Blue Light Press, 2006). His new collection, A Split Second of Light, will be published by Blue Light Press in 2011. He has been awarded residencies from Artcroft and the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. Stewart also writes non-fiction. Stewart's day job is in the technical writing field. He is also co-chair of the Board of Directors of Compassion and Choices of Northern California, an organization that helps the terminally ill make end-of-life decisions. Stewart lives in the Bay Area with his wife, two daughters, and their dog, Roxie.

Tonight, he is reading at Tmol Shilshom. Find out more at http://www.stewartflorsheim.com/Readings.html

An update from Writers in Jerusalem

Hello Writers!

Around two months ago, Writers in Jerusalem held a very successful speaking event, centred around the idea of Immigrant Writing. What does it mean to be an immigrant? How does it affect your writing? Over the course of the evening, we heard some inspiring new talent from all segments of Anglo-Israeli society, and had some engaging discussion on the subject.

Immediately following this event, we also held the Writers in Jerusalem social "bar night". This event had a dual purpose – both to allow Anglo-Israeli writers to socialize, and also to serve as the final stage in our Writing Buddy scheme. (Which you can read more about here: http://writersinjerusalem.blogspot.com/2010/10/writing-buddies-scheme.html)

The Writing Buddy scheme has provided very mixed results. I have heard some very positive things from various writers who met at the event, or who picked up one of the sheets of paper. (Lists of contact and information details of other writers who were interested in the Writing Buddy scheme but could not make the event were handed out and circulated after the readings). I am happy to hear that many writers are already helping each other to improve their work. Unfortunately there are a number who have not been contacted by any other interested party and it would only be fair to say that, sadly, Writers in Jerusalem have been unable to help them. (We apologise for the delay in letting you guys know…but we have been trying to think of various other solutions – without success.)

December's Immigrant Writing and Bar Night events were not the first that Writers in Jerusalem have organized, but they were a new experience for myself personally. I have been involved with Writers in Jerusalem since making aliyah a year and a half ago, and during all that time was living in Jerusalem itself. Recently, however, I made the move to the Merkaz region, and thus had to organize these events from the other side of the Judean hills, something which as many will remember, resulted in some last minute problems on the night.

The last few months have been very busy for me personally, and the next few months, during which I will be applying for and hopefully starting a Masters Degree in Creative Writing, will be bussier still. As the main organizer of Writers in Jerusalem events, it seems only fair to suppose that for the next few months at least, we will be having fewer events. Our monthly critiquing group, for instance, has not met for two months and will probably not meet either this month or the next. Writers in Jerusalem remains active however as a source of information about literary events in the city. We are always happy to receive information which we will post on our site. The site (www.writersinjerusalem.blogspot.com) lists information about other critiquing groups in the city, which, now that ours is meeting less often, might prove useful to some of our regular members.
Hoping you are all well and writing,

"Adam Ehad"

"Immigrant Writing" Readings Event and "Writers Bar Night"

“Immigrant Writing” Readings Event

Place: Downstairs at “Coffee Shop”, 24 Hillel St.
Time: December 15th, 7:30 – 8:30pm (followed by “Writers Bar night”)

“Writers in Jerusalem” is proud to present an evening of readings on the subject of Immigration, and we want you to take part. If you are an English-language writer living in Israel, chances are you have something already written on the subject. Why do people choose to leave one country, and what is their experience of the country to which they have chosen to move? Do they feel like exiles or returnees? At home or like foreigners? Our “Immigrant Writing” event is not an open-mike night – it is a sit-down event in a friendly, welcoming environment, part of our attempts to get English-language writers in Israel to get to know each other better and to share ideas. Getting involved is easy. If you have written something that you would like others to hear, or have a favourite passage/poem by another author, on the subject of immigration, simply email adamehad@gmail.com to say so. We also welcome “just-listeners”, and although it is fine to just turn up the night, we prefer that you email ahead so that we can know numbers.

“Writer’s Bar night”

Place: Downstairs at “Coffee Shop”, 24 Hillel St.
Time: December 15th, 8:30pm – 10:30pm

“Writers in Jerusalem” is proud to present a night out on the town for writers from all over Israel. Too many English-speaking writers in this country feel isolated, with no-one to share and discuss their work with. If you are one of their number, or simply want to have a fun evening, come along to our bar night, which will be immediately preceded by our “Immigrant Writing” Readings event. The Writers Bar Night is also dovetailed with our “Writing Buddy” scheme, which you can read about here: http://writersinjerusalem.blogspot.com/2010/10/writing-buddies-scheme.html

Writing Buddies Scheme

Hello all writers!
Writing, as we all know, can be a lonely exercise, and it can help the creative process enormously to have a fellow writer to bounce ideas off, to talk over themes with, and to finally have read and critique your finished work. Writing groups, such as the critiquing group run by "Writers in Jerusalem", can help with all of this, but very often such group meetings are too impersonal, too infrequent and too focused on the finished product. This is where "Writers in Jerusalem"'s "Writing Buddy" scheme comes in. If you are working on a novel or similarly lengthy work, and are looking for a friend willing to take the time to read it and make suggestions, or if you are looking for a writer with a similar mindset to yourself, whom you can share ideas with in order to kick off the creative process, then our "Writing Buddy" scheme, which is now going nationwide, is for you. All that you have to commit to is to return the favour, by reading their work, etc. Do not worry if you live in a remote non-anglo corner of the country, or are only available during anti-social hours. It is quite possible to communicate with your writing pal via email and instant-messenger.
There are two ways of getting involved. Firstly, you can send an email to adamehad@gmail.com, specifying where you live, what sort of writing you are working on, and what sort of person you think would be able to help you (and you would be able to help in return).
Secondly, you can wait for our "Writers bar night", which will be held somewhere in central Jerusalem, on the second Wednesday night of December (times, etc, to be confirmed), where you can meet with a range of English speaking writers from across the country.
So whatever your thing is; essays, novels, short stories or poetry, if you are looking for a friend to help with your work, get in touch!
A

10th November Critiquing Meeting

Hello all writers!
Are you free at 8pm on the evening of the 10th of November?
Do you have a piece of short fiction or factual narrative that you would like others to take a look at?
Or perhaps you simply want to spend an evening socialising with fellow writers.
If so, remember to sign up for the "Writers in Jerusalem" critiquing meeting, which next month will focus on fiction or nonfiction narratives, especially focused on the subject of travel.

(We will be accepting any form of narrative, but are especially interested in seeing travel-related works.

The point being: we will be happy to receive your narratives, and super-happy to receive your travel-narratives).
You can submit your piece - anything up to 9,000 words - anytime before the 29th of October.
If you are not submitting a piece but still wish to attend, please let us know.
Looking forward to seeing you there,
A

Reminder; September critiquing meeting coming up

Hello all writers!
Are you free at 8pm on the evening of the 15th of September?
Do you have a piece of short fiction or factual narrative that you would like others to take a look at?
Or perhaps you simply want to spend an evening socialising with fellow writers.
If so, remember to sign up for the "writers in Jerusalem" critiquing meeting, which this month will focus on fiction or nonfiction narratives.
This month, we are also hoping to have a slightly more interactive format, which should give the meetings a faster pace than previously, and should make them more interesting for all involved.
You can submit your piece - anything up to 11,000 words - anytime before the 30th of August.
If you are not submitting a piece but still wish to attend, please let us know.
Looking forward to seeing you there,
A

www.writersinjerusalem.blogspot.com