Aaron Berkowitz earned his Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and his Master of Science in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from the City College of New York. He is a writer, the editor-in-chief of the Jewish Literary Journal, and a teacher in New York City. This story is from his unpublished novel How They Survive, a fictional retelling of his grandparents’ lives after the Holocaust. He is currently looking for representation for this book. Other stories from the novel can be found in Arkansas Review (“Nostalgia”) and Crack the Spine Literary Magazine (“Revision”).
Robert Brynin is the Director of The Doctor Richard Mackarness Foundation, and the author of Our National Health, Are We Taking the Right Medicine? His fiction writing ranges from Jewish historical to non-Jewish humour to anything that interests him, which is a lot. He identifies strongly as Jewish and Zionist, but lives quietly on a farm in rural Herefordshire, many miles from any Jewish community. He has three Charedi children, one in England and two in Israel. He is past retirement age but far too busy to retire.
Riky Cohen (the author) (born 1969) is an Israeli author and poet. She regularly publishes short stories and is a founding editorof “The Garage,” a literary supplement. Her first book of poetry, A Dirty Pile in Every Room, was published is 2014. That same year saw the publication of the short story anthology she edited and contributed to: Is It Crying With You Too? Another anthology of poetry and photography under her editorship was published in 2016. Her book of poetry A Thin Veil was published in March 2019.
Linda Hirschel and her husband have lived in Israel for 38 years. She is an Orthodox Jew, a mother, and a grandmother. Originally from Boulder, Colorado, Linda graduated with a B.A. in English Literature from Middlebury College, Vermont. She has been published in numerous Orthodox publications which include Mishpacha, Ami, and Binah Magazines. She has articles in The Boston Globe, The Jewish Press, Chabad.org, and Kveller.com. Linda is currently writing a children's book.
Talya Jankovits’ work has appeared in a number of literary journals. Her micro piece, “Bus Stop in Morning” is a winner of one of Beyond Words Magazine’s 250-word challenges. Her short story “Undone” in Lunch Ticket was nominated for a Pushcart prize. Her poem, “A Woman of Valor,” was featured in the 2019/2020 Eshet Hayil exhibit at Hebrew Union College Los Angeles. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University and resides in Chicago with her husband and four daughters.
Inbar Kaminsky is first and foremost a single mother. She holds a PhD in English Literature from Tel Aviv University, where she teaches courses in digital culture and science fiction (both in English and in Hebrew). In addition, she has published several peer-reviewed articles on literature and film as well as short stories (all in English).
Ben Kaufman (a pseudonym) is a Chicago-based writer and multimedia storyteller. He is most interested in stories that upset the mundane and force characters to confront their own shortcomings. Kaufman draws upon his own background as a dual-citizen of Israel and the U.S. to tell intimate stories that connect family history to personal experience.
Anna Margolin (1887–1952). Pen name of Roza Lebensboym. Born in Brisk (modern day Belarus) in the Russian Empire, Margolin moved to New York in 1906 where she worked as an editor and journalist for various Yiddish-language newspapers. Despite only publishing one full-length collection during her lifetime (Lider, 1929), Anna Margolin remains one of the most enduringly acclaimed poets in the Yiddish language. Margolin’s poetry is dark, sensual and transgressive and these characteristics can also be found in her short stories which, because they were never collected in book form and were published under a variety of pseudonyms, remain unknown even to readers of Yiddish.
Jonathan Papernick, born and raised in Toronto, is the author of two short story collections and three novels. He serves as Senior Writer-in-Residence in the Writing, Literature and Publishing department at Emerson College in Boston where he has taught since 2007. The excerpt here is taken from his forthcoming novel, I Am My Beloveds, which will be published next month.
Davidy Rosenfeld (the author) lives in Ra’anana, Israel with his wife, three children, and a clumsy cat. He graduated from Tel Aviv University with a BA in Eastern Philosophy and an MA in History and Philosophy of Ideas and Science, with honors. He is a teacher for at-risk high school students. His books, Farewell My Babylon and The Dreams That Killed Us are private detective novels and have received excellent critical reviews, while his children’s picture book, The Rabbit Who Wanted to be a Tree, won the Ministry of Education Prize.
Harriet Shenkman earned a Ph.D. from Fordham University. She is a Professor Emerita at City University of New York. Her poetry awards include the Women’s National Book Association 2013 Annual Writing Contest in Poetry and the Women Who Write 2013 International Poetry and Short Prose Contest. Her poetry appeared in Union, the Raynes Poetry Competition Anthology, Evening Street Review, Third Wednesday, Jewish Currents, Jewish Magazine, Westchester Review. Oyez Review, The Alexandria Quarterly, Comstock Review, The Berru Poetry Series, and two poetry chapbooks. This story is based upon a character in her novel, The Camel Tamer. She hopes to find a publisher for it soon.
Julie Zuckerman‘s debut novel-in-stories, The Book of Jeremiah, was published by Press 53 in May 2019. Her writing has appeared in Jewish Women’s Archive, CRAFT, Tikkun, Crab Orchard Review, and Sixfold, among other literary magazines. A native of Connecticut, she now lives in Israel with her husband and four children. She works full-time as a senior marketing executive at an educational technology company. She is the founder of the Literary Modiin author series, connecting readers and writers of Jewish books. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading, running, biking, and trying to grow things in her garden.
