Oregon Jewish Voices

Started in 1999, this annual event features readings by prominent Oregon Jewish writers. The five writers in the 2018 program, who span a range of genres including fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and essays, will share selections from their work in OJMCHE’s auditorium.

Ken Gordon is the owner of Kenny & Zuke’s Delicatessen, a pioneering artisan Jewish delicatessen with two locations in Portland, Oregon, and one at Portland International Airport. Ken opened the first location in 2007 in response to the Pacific Northwest’s lack of the food he grew up with in his native New York City. He is partly responsible for a resurgence in the U.S. of the Jewish deli. Though self-acknowledged as a non-religious Jew, he feels that opening a Jewish delicatessen in Portland more than makes up for it. He wrote a health and fitness column for The Oregonian.

Tracy J. Prince, PhD, is an Affiliated Research Professor at PSU’s American Indian Teacher Program. She is the author of Portland’s Goose Hollow and Culture Wars in British Literature(with a chapter on British Jewish writers) and co-author of Portland’s Slabtown and Notable Women of Portland. She has spent over two decades teaching and writing about race, gender, and social equity issues in humanities, urban studies, and English departments in Turkey, Canada, and the U.S. and has spent research time in England, Australia, South Africa, and France. She is currently working on Might Oughta Keep Singin’, a book about the music of the South.

Donna Prinzmetal is a poet, psychotherapist, and teacher. She often uses writing to facilitate restoration and healing in her psychotherapy practice. Her poems have appeared in many magazines, including Prairie Schooner, The Comstock Review, The Cincinnati Review, and The Journal. Her first book, Snow White, When No One Was Looking, was published with CW Books in May of 2014.

Joshua Safran is an Orthodox Jew, author, attorney, and nationally recognized advocate for survivors of domestic violence. His memoir, Free Spirit: Growing Up On the Road and Off the Grid 
(Hachette), about his childhood on the dark side of the Age of Aquarius, was called a “beautiful, powerful memoir . . . reminiscent of David Sedaris’s and Augusten Burroughs’s best work: introspective, hilarious, and heartbreaking” (Publishers Weekly starred review). His legal odyssey to free an incarcerated survivor of domestic abuse from prison was featured in the award-winning documentary Crime After Crime. Safran’s essays have been published in Salon, The Daily Beast, Utne Reader, and Huffington Post, and his story has been heard on the BBC, NPR, PBS, PRX, CBS, and Authors at Google.

Although originally from the East Coast, Hillary Tiefer considers herself an Oregonian. She has a PhD in English and is a former college professor. Her short stories have been published in several journals, among them: Descant, Blue Moon Literary and Art Review,Grey Sparrow Journal, Mission at Tenth, Poetica Magazine, Red Rock Review, and Juxtaprose Literary Magazine. Lily’s Home Front is her debut novel.

Willa Schneberg is a poet, visual artist, curator, and psychotherapist in private practice. She has authored five poetry collections, including In The Margins of The World, recipient of the Oregon Book Award, and her latest volume, Rending the Garment. In February of 2018, she served as a poet-in-residence in Kathmandu. She founded and curates Oregon Jewish Voices with Judy Margles. This is the 19th season, and Willa will emcee this year’s event.