Real housewives of making art against antisemitism
Personal branding labour has entered the chat
Now it’s time to review the 75-writer anthology called ‘On Being Jewish Now’
Perhaps the woman behind the book On Being Jewish Now is a bit like Philip Roth after all.
It was a whole lot easier to be a post-parochialism Jew prior to Oct. 7. Zibby Owens, a leading American bookfluencer—and author, and publisher, and more—had not “disproportionately” sought out Jewish books. So she explains in the introduction to the anthology she just edited, which she is promoting this week in Toronto with an event featuring Indigo CEO Heather Reisman…
The Israel-Hamas war claims another casualty: An independent Canadian publication about zines
The war between Israel and Hamas has claimed yet another casualty in the Canadian arts world: Broken Pencil, an independent magazine that has covered zine culture since 1995, has been shut down. Founder and publisher Hal Niedzviecki wrote on their website that “the values of the zine and small press community have shifted,” adding that “the relentless pursuit of ideological purity and identity politics has overshadowed the core mission of Broken Pencil.” He cited calls for his resignation, a petition for the publication to join the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, and pushes to cover what’s happening in Gaza as reasons for his eventual decision.
This leads to a few obvious questions. Does a Canadian publication that covers the zine world have a responsibility to focus on Gaza? Can people not hold complex views on creators and the things they create—or must everything we enjoy be ideologically syncronized?
Avi and Phoebe discuss on the latest episode of Bonjour Chai. And before that, they dig into the role of activism in literature, pressures faced by Jewish fiction writers and the efficacy of antisemitism summits. Do they do anything—and do we really need another one?
What’s in a number now?
We’ll get talking about this poll conducted by Léger on behalf of New Israel Fund, JSpace Canada and Canadian Friends of Peace Now soon enough on the podcast.