Prominent US Writers Join Israeli Counterparts in 1st-Of-Kind Forum

Prominent US Writers Join Israeli Counterparts in 1st-Of-Kind Forum

- Initiated by The United States-Israel Educational Foundation, the Fulbright Commission for Israel, the Symposium 'Writing Across Cultures' Will Take Place at the Jerusalem International Book Fair on 16 February 2005

JERUSALEM, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. government's Fulbright Program, administered in Israel by the United States-Israel Educational Foundation, is marking a half-century of US-Israeli academic exchanges with a special symposium called "Writing Across Cultures -- A dialogue on multicultural and multilingual writing." The event will begin on February 16 at 3:00pm in the Dulzin Auditorium of the Jerusalem International Conference Center (Binyanei Ha'uma).

The symposium will explore the role that contemporary literature plays in crossing boundaries and the translation of cultures through literature, both within the multicultural nation and in the framework of transnational and global culture.

Three renowned American literary figures will take part in the symposium: Gish Jen, Chinese-American writer; Ilan Stavans, Jewish-Mexican-American author, essayist and cultural critic; and Columbia University literary researcher David Damrosch.

The Israeli speakers will be Arab-Israeli novelist Sayed Kashua, Iranian-Israeli novelist Dorit Rabinyan, and Russian-Israeli writer and literary researcher Elana Gomel. Both Rabinyan and Gomel studied and trained in the US as Fulbright Fellows.

Algerian-Italian novelist and researcher Khaled Allam will add his unique outlook to those presented by the US and Israeli participants.

The panel concept was proposed and developed by Hana Wirth-Nesher of the Tel Aviv University's English department. Wirth-Nesher is a Fulbright program alumna and currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the United States-Israel Educational Foundation. The other members of the "Writing Across Cultures" steering committee are Zev Birger, Chairman and Managing Director of the Book Fair, Deborah Harris of the Harris Elon Agency and Neal Sherman, Executive Director of the United States-Israel Educational Foundation.

Media Representatives Are Invited To Attend The Symposium.

For more details, and to arrange interviews, please contact Ruder Finn (Israel):

-- Boaz Amidor, Tel: +972-(0)54-4676975; Boaz@ruderfinn.co.il

-- Mimi Levene, Tel: +972-(0)54-4676948; Mimi@ruderfinn.co.il

for Israel


Source: United States-Israel Educational Foundation, The Fulbright Commission

CONTACT: Boaz Amidor, +972-(0)54-4676975, Boaz@ruderfinn.co.il, Mimi
Levene, +972-(0)54-4676948, Mimi@ruderfinn.co.il, both for Ruder Finn
(Israel)


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