A day of readings, class workshops, and evening panel discussion

“La Mano y el JudÍo: A Bilingual Reading of Jewish Latin American Writing” (2:00 – 3:30 pm), Fireside Lounge, UW-Milwaukee Student Union

Open Master Class with Marjorie Agosín, José Kozer, and Stephen Sadow (4:30 – 6:00 pm), Fireside Lounge, UW-Milwaukee Student Union

 Jewish Latin American Writers Event Poster

Interview with Marjorie Agosín

Marjorie Agosín is Luella LaMer Slaner Professor in Latin American Studies and Professor of Spanish at Wellesley College. She is also an award-winning Chilean-American poet, essayist, fiction writer, and activist with deep interests in Jewish literature, the literature of human rights in the Americas, women writers of Latin America, and migration, identity, and ethnicity. Born in the United States, Agosín was raised in Chile by her Jewish parents, but was forced to return the U.S. after the military coup of General Pinochet. Aside from her extensive written work, for which she has won numerous literary awards, she is also well-known for her outspokenness on issues of women’s rights in Chile. The United Nations has honored her for her work on human rights. The Chilean government awarded her with the Gabriela Mistral Medal of Honor for Life Achievement in 2002.

Interview with José Kozer

Born in Havana, Cuba of Jewish parents who emigrated from Poland (father) and Czechoslovakia (mother), José Kozer left his native land in 1960 and lived in New York until 1997, the year he retired from Queens College as Full Professor and where he taught Spanish and Latin American literatures for thirty-two years. An internationally-recognized poet, his poetry has been translated into English, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Hebrew, and Greek, has been widely anthologized, and has appeared in numerous literary journals from all over the world. He is the 2013 winner of the highly-prestigious Pablo Neruda Ibero-American Poetry Prize. Established in 2004 for Neruda’s centennial, the award, presented by the Chilean government, honors a lifetime contribution to poetry. In retirement he is actively writing and living in Florida.

Interview with Steve Sadow

Steve Sadow is Professor of Jewish Studies and Spanish and Latin American Literature at Northeastern University. Sadow specializes in Jewish Latin American literature. He has authored, edited, or translated fifteen books and more than seventy book chapters, articles, and literary translations. He received the 1999 National Jewish Book Award for his translation work. With Ricardo Feierstein, he co-directed the four-day cultural festival “The Conference in the AMIA: Reconstructing Jewish Argentine Culture” in 2001 and 2003.

Jewish Thought, Latin Flavor: Jewish Literature in Latin America

Panel Discussion: with Marjorie Agosín (Luella LaMer Slaner Professor in Latin American Studies and Professor of Spanish at Wellesley College), José Kozer (Professor of Hispanic Literature, Queens College of New York (1967-1997)), Steve Sadow (Professor of Jewish Studies and Spanish and Latin American Literature at Northeastern University).