The Michigan State University Jewish Studies Program and the MSU Libraries will co-sponsor a symposium on modern Hebrew and Israeli literature on April 9-10.
Free and open to the public, it will feature an international roster of speakers. Made possible by a special gift from Ritta Rosenberg, the symposium is being held in honor of the Irwin T. and Shirley Holtzman Israeli Literature Collection and Archive, located in the Special Collections Division at the MSU Libraries.
Keynote speakers for the symposium are Meir Shalev and Robert Alter. Shalev is one of Israel’s most celebrated novelists and also a columnist with the Israeli daily, “Yediot Ahronot.” His books include “A Pigeon and a Boy,” “The Loves of Judith (Four Meals),” “Fontanelle,”” Alone in the Desert,” “But A Few Days” and “Esau.”
Alter is a literary scholar, translator and professor emeritus of Hebrew and comparative literature at UC Berkeley. His books include “Canon and Creativity: Modern Writing and the Authority of Scripture,” “The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel,” “The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary” and “The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary.”
Three presentations by panels of noted scholars will also take place: “On Meir Shalev’s Oeuvre,” “1920 to 2020: Formation and Transformation of the Hebrew Literary Canon” and “The New Hebrew a Century Later: Ethics, Ideology and the Limits of Power.”
Keynote presentations will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at the MSU Main Library and discussion panels will occur during the day Wednesday. All refreshments and meals served at the symposium will be prepared and served under kosher supervision.
The Irwin T. and Shirley Holtzman Israeli Literature Collection and Archive represents many years of passionate collecting by Irwin Holtzman, a Detroit-area builder and business owner who died in 2010. Many of the volumes of fiction, poetry and drama he collected are inscribed by the author, and the collection also includes a wealth of primary resources, such manuscripts of poetry and drama, posters advertising literary events, political cartoons and correspondence.
For the complete schedule and list of speakers, visit http://lib.msu.edu/symposium.jsp.