Jewish authors discuss role of hope in writing

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/11/2023 (731 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For former University of Winnipeg history professor Daniel Stone, one of the best ways to help young people learn about history, and come away with a sense of hope, is through historical fiction.

“It can make history come alive for them,” he said, adding that he used historical fiction in his university classes.

“It shows how bigger events affect individuals, and how individuals can affect events,” he said.

Stone’s interest in the role historical fiction plays in the lives of young readers led him to organize “Jewish Women: Talking and Writing,” at the Asper Jewish Community Campus on Dec. 4.

The event will feature local authors Carol Matas, Eva Wiseman and Harriet Zaidman, who will talk about how they choose and research their subjects and historical periods, how they develop characters, and how they try to adhere to the Jewish ethical imperative of injecting a sense of hope into stories directed to children and young people.

For Wiseman, who has written seven books for young readers, including ones about the Holocaust and pogroms and persecution of Jews, giving readers a sense of hope is key.

“I have written about some terrible and dark times for Jews,” she said. “I want readers to come away knowing there is a light, that life will not always be that terrible, it will improve.”

Readers should come away from her books knowing “they can perhaps do something about the events facing them today,” she said, not just “feeling the world is a bleak place.”

Matas has authored 47 books for young readers, including some about the Holocaust. The message she wants to share isn’t about prevailing over challenges —“as Jews, we know there were times when we couldn’t do anything”— but “trying to prevail,” and about not succumbing to despair.

In her books, characters sometimes have no or limited agency, but they always are able to decide “whether to love or hate… they can be the hope,” she said.

Zaidman, the author of five books for children and young people, including one about the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike, said it’s about connecting events in the past with situations faced by young people today.

She wants to show how young people “can make choices that unify society and give everyone a chance to fulfill their potential,” she said.

It’s also a way to honour her Jewish ancestors who came to Winnipeg in the 20th century, people who “struggled as new immigrants, including the discrimination they faced, and to bring their stories alive for new generations.”

The event, which is sponsored by the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada, begins at 7 p.m.

Mavis Reimer, a professor of English at the University of Winnipeg, will moderate the panel.

For more information, and to register, visit www.jhcwc.org/programs. Admission is free.

faith@freepress.mb.ca

The Free Press is committed to covering faith in Manitoba. If you appreciate that coverage, help us do more! Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow us to deepen our reporting about faith in the province. Thanks! BECOME A FAITH JOURNALISM SUPPORTER