Bernard Otterman Dinner and Talk
Bernard Otterman in Byron – 7th December, 2008!
Rainbow Kehilah proudly presents a talk by Bernard Otterman, who is coming to Australia from the USA, and has kindly offered his time to us while he is holidaying in Byron Bay!
We cordially invite you to attend this very special event.
To assist us in publicising this event, please pass on this info to friends and family.
About Bernard Otterman
His latest book, “Black Grass”, released earlier this year by Jewish Heritage Press, is a collection of Holocaust-themed short stories. Bernard is a child holocaust survivor and has written extensively and given talks about WWII and his personal experiences.
The talk in Byron Bay will be about his experiences and is likely to include snippets about the literary process of writing his latest book. More info and links below.
| Date | 7th December, 2008 |
| Time | 7:15pm |
| Where | Venue will be in Suffolk Park. Exact location given on registration. |
| Please Bring | Shared Casual Dinner: Please bring a main-course or savoury plate to share (enough for you and your family).Drinks: Fruit juice, soft drink.Dessert: If you can bring some dessert or cake as well (but not instead of mains), that would be great!
Note: Dinner is not kosher, but please, no pork, shellfish or other non-kosher animals or seafood.
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| Cost | Gold coin donation (to cover event expenses) |
The venue location in Suffolk Park will be announced to those who’ve registered.
We need you to RSVP or Register on our website as soon as possible!
More info and phone registration – call Susi 02 6685 4440 or phone/sms to 0488 158 802.
eMail info – please use our Contact Us page
See Bernard Otterman’s website for a more complete picture of his work, including poetry: www.bernardotterman.com
Also on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcsFRWBAb5U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfRaAeVCQys&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8e-TlTz42M&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u33pBfEZaZA&feature=related
This is brief review of the collection that ran in the Jewish Daily Forward:
THE JEWISH DAILY FORWARD
Thu. Apr 24, 2008
“Black Grass” By Bernard Otterman
In “Golem of Auschwitz,” the first tale in Bernard Otterman’s second collection of stories, the narrator, imprisoned in a concentration camp, asks himself whether escape might be possible through the conjuring of a supernatural creature. “Things were taking place every day in Auschwitz that no one had considered possible,” he reasons.
“Why not a golem?”
The narrator’s question is also Otterman’s. Facing the notoriously difficult task of representing the Holocaust and its aftermath, the author creates fantastical situations that parallel the surrealism of the Shoah itself. In the book’s title story, “Black Grass,” a rural Eastern European town is besieged by a mysterious plague that spreads outward from the spot where a concentration camp once stood; in “Lotto Fever,” a Holocaust survivor living in New York intuits correctly that the number tattooed on his arm will appear on the day’s winning lotto ticket.
Otterman, who survived the Holocaust as a child, sometimes veers into heavy-handed territory; the first story, for instance, concludes with the golem responsible for Israel’s independence. But Otterman’s willingness to engage creatively with the metaphysical questions raised by the Holocaust should be applauded. — Marissa Brostoff
