Meir Shalev, one of Israel’s most renowned novelists, will deliver the Horvitz Memorial Lecture in Jewish Studies Thursday, Mar. 3 in the Swift Hall third floor lecture room.
Shalev is the author of numerous novels and works of nonfiction, including A Pigeon and a Boy, Fontanelle, But a Few Days, The Loves of Judith (Four Meals), and the forthcoming Beginnings: Reflections on the Bible’s Intriguing Firsts.
Shalev was born in 1948, in a moshav, a cooperative farming settlement in the Valley of Jezreel. He went on to study psychology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem before beginning a career as a journalist. He writes a column for the newspaper Yediot Ahronot and is an active commentator on Israeli politics.
His 1988 debut novel Russian Romance (published as The Blue Mountain in the United States) was a runaway bestseller in Israel, Germany, and Australia. Like many of Shalev’s novels, The Blue Mountain examines the history of Zionism through the lives of the Eastern European immigrants who settled Palestine prior to the formation of the Israeli state.
Shalev’s ability to connect Israel’s dramatic past with its present “strikes a chord with a lot of Israelis,” said Na’ama Rokem, Assistant Professor in Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations and the College, who studies contemporary Hebrew fiction.
His novel about the 1948 war, A Pigeon and a Boy, “retells that story not as a historical [event], but through the prism of how it is still living, and how people are retelling it and reliving its consequences,” Rokem said. “He makes history present in the lives of Israelis.”
“He’s an unbelievable storyteller,” added Shulamit Ran, the Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor in Music and the College. Ran, a native of Israel, has long been a fan of Shalev’s work.
“His stories are fantastical—but then, life is fantastical. His writing captures this wonderment,” she said.
During his visit, Shalev also will lead two fiction workshops for students interested in creative writing.
By inviting distinguished artists like Shalev to speak at the University and interact with students, “we’re trying to highlight the arts in modern Jewish culture. We’re very interested in exposing the University of Chicago community to Israeli novelists,” said Josef Stern, the William H. Colvin Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Jewish Studies, which is sponsoring Shalev’s visit.
The center, founded in 2009, brings together scholars of many disciplines with an interest in Jewish Studies. In addition to offering resources for scholars, the Center for Jewish Studies hosts lectures and events throughout the year. Last year, the center brought playwright Tony Kushner to campus for the Jean and Harold Gossett lecture.
The Horvitz Memorial Lecture in Jewish Studies is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to register by contacting Christina Heisser (cheisser@uchicago.edu). Students interested in attending the fiction workshops should contact Kate Soto (katesoto@uchicago.edu).
—Prof. Jacqueline Stewart
