Last October ESRA celebrated its 30th birthday. This year, Tel Aviv has its 100th birthday. On  June 14, 2009, at its monthly meeting,  ESRA-in-Tel-Aviv paid tribute to the Tel Aviv centennial in a set of readings from the book Tel Aviv Short Stories (2009, Ang-Lit Press), published specifically to honor 100 years of Tel Aviv.

 Shelley Goldman, UK born journalist and founding editor of City Lights, The Jerusalem Post weekend supplement, earned an MA in creative writing at Bar Ilan University. A few years ago she and three of her friends founded Ang-Lit Press and published the book Jane Doe Buys a Challah, also an anthology of short stories. Shelley is co-editor of both the books. She introduced the writers who read from their stories in the large auditorium at Beit Ariela. The audience was enthusiastic and entered into the spirit of each story.

Karen Alkalay-Gut, Professor of English literature at TAU, read from The Center, a story about a young soldier, his grandmother and the girl she finds for her grandson. A good meal is, of course, obligatory in such a situation. 

Jerome Mandel, Professor Emeritus at TAU, provided us with an uncompromising comment on the materialism of many present day Israelis compared with the idealism of older Zionist generations, in his story Testimony.

We were treated to a wry look at life on a kibbutz when a glamorous intruder appears for a short while, in Michal Yudelman-O’Dwyer’s Savta’s Fruitcake. Childhood memories of her savta’s fruitcake linger in the mind of the adult narrator.

Mark Levinson, known as a poet, has shown himself to be an accomplished story writer in A Rental in Town, set in and around Rabin Square where ‘Rabin’s ghost’ helps out a young computer boffin.

The very funny Spirit of the Maccabees, by Raquelle Azran, deals with the problem we all face during Hanukkah – enforced, unwilling, weight gain through the consumption of doughnuts.

One of the cofounders of Ang-Lit Press, Jeffrey Geri, read from The New Editor, detailing the anxieties of a man torturing himself into believing that his wife has lost interest in him. Closing lines of stories are often disappointing, but this closing is not to be missed.

Another poet, Katherine Shabat, based The Clerk on a bus journey she took during the intifada, skillfully fictionalized to make us hold our breath.

I read from The Plate, a story about two sisters who once were friends.

The readings from the stories completed, Shelley opened a discussion on fiction, its uses, its effects, and why we write it. Observations were made about the emotional power of fiction, as opposed to nonfiction. Also discussed was the difference between telling a story and writing one. An audience member confessed that she had not realized that there were differences.

In a subsequent email, Shelley wrote that she “was surprised and delighted by the excellent attendance and audience participation…we had almost a full house.” Indeed, the audience had a number of questions and observations. One man pointed out that the book was a pleasure to read because of the clear print and layout. A woman complained that Raquelle Azran’s photo at the end of her story did not do justice to such a beautiful woman.

Shelley also wrote that “despite our repeated efforts, reminders, prodding and a file full of positive responses, Tel Aviv’s Centenary Committee has totally ignored our book’s existence…” She added, “That the reading… took place at Beit Ariela, Tel Aviv’s library felt, for me at least, historically and symbolically appropriate. …ESRA TA (is) to be thanked and applauded for taking the initiative and organizing one of the few centenary events to take place in English…”

Copies of the book, reduced for ESRA members, were on sale. The book is now in its second edition, available at Steimatzky and Tsomet Sfarim. Ang-Lit Press intends publishing another book of short stories, their third, Short Stories from Israel, at the end of 2010, see www.ta2009.com for submission criteria.

The event was stimulating and enjoyable, and later feedback most congratulatory. Thanks go to Aggie van der Laan, ESRA-in-Tel-Aviv organizer and program coordinator. Without her there would have been no meeting.