Hot Jewish Writers

Hot Jewish Writers at Jewlicious Festival 4.0 Long Beach / LA Feb. 29-Mar. 2, 2008

Adam Mansbach’s upcoming novel, The End of the Jews: A Novel, will be published in March 2008 by Spiegel & Grau/Doubleday. An ambitious and affecting family drama and a sweeping tour of race, religion, art and identity in 20th century America, The End of the Jews tells the story of the Brodskys, a family of Jewish artists and writers whose bumpy ride through 20th century America – from shtetl to suburbs- is fueled by an obsessive quest for love and inspiration. Adam Mansbach is also dynamic public speaker whose lectures combine elements of spoken-word, hip hop, comedy, and traditional scholarship to address the complexities of race, hip hop, literature, and popular culture, Adam also performed as a hip hop artist whose album Stand for Nothing, Fall for Anything was released by Upshot Records in 2005. Adam will be joining Jewlicious for the weekend and speaking in several sessions. Maybe we can get him to sing too.

Lisa Alcalay Klug is an award-winning freelance journalist, Lisa works as a stringer for the New York Times and contributes to the San Francisco Chronicle, Forward, Jerusalem Post, and many other publications. She is the author of the forthcoming book, Cool Jew: The Ultimate Guide for Every Member of the Tribe(Summer ’08), a celebration of Jewish pride with love, enthusiasm and irreverence. Lisa Klug will also be teaching Yoga this year at the Festival and dancing a lot.

Niles Elliot Goldstein is the founding rabbi of The New Shul, an innovative and independent congregation in Greenwich Village, New York. He is the award-winning author of 9 books, including Gonzo Judaism: A Bold Path for Renewing an Ancient Faith and God at the Edge: Searching for the Divine in Uncomfortable and Unexpected Places, Goldstein served as the voice behind “Ask the Rabbi” on MSN and is the National Jewish Chaplain for the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association. Niles holds a black belt in karate, and he has traveled through such remote and rugged regions as Mongolia, Alaska, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Amazon. Niles will be joining us for the whole weekend blintz and participate in several sessions.

Returning to our Festival is Ruth Andrew Ellenson, who received the National Jewish Book Award in 2005 for her bestselling anthology, The Modern Jewish Girl’s Guide to Guilt. She was born in Jerusalem and raised in New York and Los Angeles. Ms. Ellenson works as a journalist and her writing regularly appears in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and People Magazine as well as several Jewish publications. She is the daughter of Rabbi David Ellenson, president of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and currently lives in Los Angeles. Ruthie will be joining us for the whole shabang! And helping out in several sessions too.