Dara Horn, Joseph Finder among visiting authors at annual writer’s festival

It was a complex task securing guests for this year’s International Writers Festival in Jerusalem, taking place May 25-28 at the city’s Mishkenot Sha’ananim cultural center.

The literary event, always a forum for in-depth discussions and conversations about Israel, the Jewish world, and the people and ideas that dwell in those spheres, has been affected by two and a half years of war and the soft cultural boycott against Israel that has taken hold amid the fighting, said Julia Fermentto-Zaisler, director of the festival, in a statement.

She said that the process of inviting guests involved delays and cancellations.

This year’s short list of eight authors includes American Jewish novelist and essayist Dara Horn, thriller writer Joseph Finder, new author Rabbi Benjamin Resnick, and Stanford University Jewish historian Steven Zipperstein, all from the US, as well as novelist Nell Zink, an American writer living in Germany, Italian author Erri De Luca, Israeli sociologist Eva Illouz and Argentine Jewish author Marcelo Birmajer.

“Israel’s standing in the world continues to affect the literary sphere,” said Fermentto-Zaisler. “Though we still hope literature can remain independent and free from political pressures, guided by the belief that literature knows no borders and should be available to all. Despite everything, some found the courage to come and engage in dialogue with Israeli culture despite current events, public opinion, and the noise surrounding them.”

Highlighted events include the closing event on May 28 with former Hamas captive Eli Sharabi, discussing his book, “Hostage,” with journalist Roni Kuban.

Neapolitan writer De Luca, a self-taught scholar of ancient Hebrew and Yiddish and a student of the Bible, will discuss Italy’s literary and cultural climate, his decades-long body of work rooted in the Naples of his youth, and a new book soon to be published in Hebrew.

Two former intelligence officers turned novelists, Finder, a former CIA officer, and Jonathan de Shalit, a former Mossad operative, will discuss the thin line between reality and fiction and how their work served as literary raw material.

Zink will discuss with journalist Sharon Kantor how her years of living in Berlin shaped her work, while debut author Resnick, a New York Conservative rabbi, will speak with local educator, author and rabbi Mishael Zion about telling Jewish stories right now, such as his award-winning first novel, “Next Stop.”

Zipperstein, a scholar of Jewish history, will discuss two of his books with journalist Akiva Novick, exploring “Pogrom,” his study of the 1903 Kishinev massacre, and with novelist Ayelet Gundar-Goshen, the biography he wrote of his friend, the late Jewish-American novelist Philip Roth.

Journalist Birmajer, whose work explores secular Jewish identity, will discuss his writing and his relationship with Israel before and after his brother, Rabbi Reuben Birmajer, was killed in a 2015 Jerusalem terror attack.

Other events include an evening celebrating poets’ songs, hosted by Maya Kosover and Nir Gorali, creators of the popular Kan podcast “One Song,” and a launch for beloved children’s book author Yannets Levi’s latest in the Uncle Arie series.