Syracuse University Prof. Ken Frieden to read from, discuss new work on Yiddish stories

Syracuse University Prof. Ken Frieden to read from, discuss new work on Yiddish storiesJuly 08, 2004Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

Ken Frieden, the B.G. Rudolph Professor and director of the Judaic Studies Program in Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences, will read from “Classic Yiddish Stories” (Syracuse University Press, 2004) on Wednesday, July 14, at 7 p.m. at the DeWitt Community Library, located in ShoppingTown Mall. A discussion and book signing will follow.

The book, which was edited by Frieden, is a comprehensive collection of the best short fiction by three seminal Yiddish authors-S.Y. Abramovitsh, Sholem Aleichem and I.L. Peretz. Included in the book are Abramovitsh’s “Fishke the Lame,” Aleichem’s “Tevye” tales and Peretz’s “Hasidic Stories.”

“‘Classic Yiddish Stories’ is a gem,” says Benjamin Harshav, professor of comparative literature, J.& H. Blaustein Professor of Hebrew Literature and professor of Slavic Literatures at Yale University. “It brings back into circulation the triumvirate of the Yiddish classical writers who were not sentimental recorders of reality but great masters of language and subtle magicians of fictional worlds.”

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the DeWitt Library at 446-3578 or visit www.ocpl.lib.ny.us