35th Annual JCC Jewish Book Festival

The Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival will warm up your winter nights with an exciting roster of writers from across Canada, the US, Israel and South Africa.

35th Annual JCC Jewish Book Festival

When: February 8 to 13, 2020
Tickets: Available online now »
Where: Most events take place at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver (950 West 41^st Ave at Oak), as well as in outreach locations in the Lower Mainland.

The six days of the Festival are packed with inspiring and entertaining literary events including unique meet-the-author opportunities, readings and panel discussions, the annual book club event, children’s and youth authors, wellness subjects and two onsite bookstores new and used, open throughout the week.

There is something of interest for every age group and literary taste. Featured 2020 Festival authors will include: ​

Opening Night Gala with GARY SHTEYNGART, the incredibly funny and incredibly smart master of satire, in conversation with Lisa Christiansen about his biting and timely novel Lake Success; an interdisciplinary Closing Night with JAMIE BERNSTEIN, daughter of revered composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein. Her memoir Famous Father Girl invites us into the family’s private world where, with the help of guest musicians, she will offer us a rare look at her father around the centennial of his birth.

Winner of the 2019 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature MICHAEL DAVID LUKAS will talk about his fascinating historical fiction novel The Last Watchman of Cairo followed by the documentary From Cairo to the Cloud by local filmmaker MICHELLE PAYMAR.

Local bestselling author DANIEL KALLA headlining our annual Book Clubs event with his latest novel We All Fall Down, a historical/medical thriller; BC ecologist and professor ALEJANDRO FRID arguing that merging science and Indigenous knowledge may be the only way to avert the imminent climate and biodiversity crises, in his book Changing Tides: An Ecologist‘s Journey to Make Peace with the Anthropocene.

Local historian HEIDI TWOREK with her brilliant new book News from Germany: The Competition to Control World Communications 1900-1945; eminent South African photographer and writer TERRY KURGAN, winner of the 2019 Sunday Times Alan Paton Non-fiction Award presenting her book Everyone is Present: Essays on Photography, Family and Memory, in our first partnership with the Polygon Gallery.

Israeli/Canadian writer GILA GREEN, author of novel in stories White Zion and YA novel No Entry. Local parenting expert ANNE ANDREW with her book What They Don‘t Teach in Prenatal Class; ALEXANDRA FRANKEL bringing forth a whimsical children’s book about diversity and acceptance From Neigh to Zebra. Former Vancouverite ANNA MEHLER PAPERNY with her vibrant, compelling memoir Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me and many other authors, events and genres.

Follow the Jewish Community Centre on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more info about this festival and more.

Win Tickets

I have a pair of tickets to give away to the closing night event with Jamie Bernstein on February 13 at 7:30pm. In this deeply intimate and broadly evocative memoir (Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein) the eldest daughter of revered composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein offers a rare look at her father around the centennial of his birth. Jamie will be joined by UBC School of Music singers and pianists to bring to life some of her father’s lyrical works, with an overarching social justice theme.

Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
• Click below to post an entry on Twitter

I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Wednesday, January 22, 2020. UPDATE: The winner is Colleen!