Starting tonight and continuing through the end of the fall semester, Hill Memorial Library will host a study of Jewish literature.
The University received a $2,500 grant from the American Library Association to participate in a national series called “Let’s Talk About It! Jewish Literature – Identity and Imagination.” Hill Memorial is one of only 250 libraries nationwide to receive the grant.
The study concerns modern graphic novels with a Jewish theme. A graphic novel is an illustrated story with a page layout similar to a comic book.
Tonight, students, faculty and community members will discuss “A Contract with God” by Will Eisner. This is a book of four stories that focuses on the lives of working-class Jews in the 1930s Bronx tenements.
Some questions to be discussed concern the literary nature of graphic novels, the Jewish content of the chosen works and why many respected writers and artists in that genre have been Jewish. Discussions will be guided by the participants.
Between the first and second discussion on Sept. 25, James Sturm, the director of the Center for Cartoon Studies, will come to the University to lecture on “James Sturm’s America: Cartooning on the Frontier.” His 2001 graphic novel “The Golem’s Mighty Swing” is the story of a 1920s Jewish baseball team.
“A very exciting aspect of this discussion series is that it is designed to bring together LSU students with members of the larger community,” Sharon Weltman, the leader of the study, said. “Because it’s a discussion series, everyone coming will have different kinds of knowledge to contribute to the conversation.”
Weltman, an English professor and member of the Jewish studies faculty, said it will not be necessary to read the books before each session, and copies are available in the campus libraries and local libraries.
The first session will take place tonight at Hill Memorial at 6. The next session will cover Art Spiegelman’s “The Complete Maus: A Survivor’s Tale” on Oct. 2, and the Oct. 16 session will be on “Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer” by Ben Katchor. The last two sessions, Oct. 30 and Nov. 6, will be on “The Quitter” by Harvey Pekar and “The Rabbi’s Cat” by Joann Sfar, respectively. The public is invited to attend all of the sessions for free.
—–Contact Joanna Brown at [email protected]