Great Yiddish Authors of the 20th Century

Richard Reeder, who teaches literature at Oakton Community College and the Newberry Library, and who is a writer himself, will discuss the works and lives of these three impactful Yiddish writers. In addition, Richard and local actor Howard Raik will do some short readings from the works of these three authors:

Sholem Asch (1880-1957), also written Shalom Ash, was a Polish-Jewish novelist, dramatist, and essayist in the Yiddish language who settled in the United States.

Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904-91) was the author of many novels, stories, and children's books. His books include The Slave and Gimpel the Fool and Other Stories. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978

Chaim Grade, who died in 1982, was the author of numerous works of prose and poetry in Yiddish. Born in Vilna, Lithuania, in 1910, Mr. Grade came to the United States in 1948 and lived in New York City with is wife, Inna. He received many prizes and awards, including the B'nai B'rith Jewish Heritage Award for Excellence, the Morris Adler Prize of the American Academy of Jewish Research, and the Remembrance Award of the World Federation of Bergen-Belsen Associations.