Monday evenings
7pm: Schmooze and Wine
7:15pm: Program
Join us to hear renowned Jewish writers read from and discuss their recent work on the Ansche Chesed roof. Beverages, snacks and books are available for purchase. If it rains, come anyway. We have a perfect indoor space.
New this year!
- New start time: Schmooze and wine, 7 p.m. Program: 7:15 p.m.
- Book sales in advance. Order your books before the event through our Scribblers Bookshop.org page.
- Season pass: $50 — Register here. The first ten people to sign up will get autographed copies of any book they choose. (Regular admission: $10 suggested donation per event, cash or card accepted.)
Full Lineup:
June 9Ruth Franklin, The Many Lives of Anne Frank | June 16Tova Mirvis, We Would Never |
June 23 | June 30Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Long Island Compromise |
July 7David Denby, Eminent Jews | July 14 |
July 21Andre Aciman, Room on the Sea | July 28Esther Chehebar, Sisters of Fortune |
June 9
Ruth Franklin
The Many Lives of Anne Frank
RUTH FRANKLIN on The Many Lives of Anne Frank, part biography, part study of the Anne Frank phenomenon. “Franklin has done a wonderful thing here” (The Wall Street Journal). Franklin’s Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life (2016) won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography and her A Thousand Darknesses: Lies and Truth in Holocaust Fiction (2011) was a finalist for the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature.
In conversation with Judith Shulevitz.
June 16
Tova Mirvis
We Would Never
TOVA MIRVIS on her new novel We Would Never, “a relentlessly intelligent barn-burner” (Claire Dederer) and literary murder mystery about a Jewish family in Florida. Mirvis is also the author of the memoir The Book of Separation and four novels: We Would Never, Visible City, The Outside World, and The Ladies Auxiliary.
In conversation with Lauren Wein
June 23
Alissa Quart and Adelle Waldman
A poet/journalist and a novelist discuss the dignity of labor. ALISSA QUART is the author of five books of nonfiction including Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream (2023) and the executive director of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. She is also the author of two books of poetry. ADELLE WALDMAN is the author of the novels Help Wanted (2024) and The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., named one of the best books of 2013 by The New Yorker, The Economist, The New Republic, NPR, Slate, Bookforum, The Guardian and others.
Moderated by Dan Friedman
June 30
Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Long Island Compromise
TAFFY BRODESSER-AKNER on her bestselling 2024 novel Long Island Compromise, the “Big American Reform Jewish Novel” (New York Times). Brodesser-Akner is a staff writer for the New York Times Magazine and bestselling author of Fleishman Is in Trouble (2019) as well as the creator and executive producer of its Emmy-nominated series adaptation for FX. In conversation with Sheila Lewis.
In conversation with Lauren Wein
July 7
David Denby
Eminent Jews
DAVID DENBY on Eminent Jews, about Leonard Bernstein, Mel Brooks, Betty Friedan, and Norman Mailer. “A tapestry of late 20th century American history” (The Forward). Denby is the author of Great Books, American Sucker, and Lit Up. He is the former film critic of The New Yorker and currently a staff writer.
In conversation with Judith Shulevitz
July 14
Alina Adams and Stephen Wolf
Scribblers’ first annual Ansche Chesed night, with two noted authors who also happen to be members of our shul. ALINA ADAMS (also known as Alina Sivorinovsky Wickham) is the bestselling author of soap opera tie-ins, mysteries, romance novels, and historical fiction. Her latest novel, Go On Pretending, is set in the Soviet Union. STEPHEN WOLF’s new novel Miss Manhattan is about Audrey Munson, an artist’s model and film actress who inspired statues in Manhattan and elsewhere. His Central Park Love Song: Wandering Beneath the Heaventrees (2018) is, according to the New York Times, “an eloquent, evocative ode that encompasses New York history, past and contemporary protagonists, geography and botany.”
Moderated by Sheila Lewis
July 21
Andre Aciman
Room on the Sea
ANDRE ACIMAN on his new collection of novellas, Room on the Sea, an “exquisite triptych” and “triumph.” (Publishers Weekly). Aciman is the author of Call Me by Your Name, Out of Egypt, Eight White Nights, False Papers, Alibis, Harvard Square, Enigma Variations, Homo Irrealis, Roman Year, and Find Me.
In conversation with Dan Friedman
July 28
Esther Chehebar
Sisters of Fortune
ESTHER CHEHEBAR on her debut novel Sisters of Fortune, “a warm, wise and utterly enjoyable novel” (Tova Mirvis) about three Syrian Jewish sisters growing up in Brooklyn. Esther Chehebar is a frequent contributor to Tablet, where she writes about Sephardic Jewish life.
In conversation with Lauren Wein
