Erika Dreifus

@erikadreifus

Reader/Writer/Teacher. Author of QUIET AMERICANS: STORIES & BIRTHRIGHT: POEMS. Focusing (mostly) on matters bookish and/or #Jewish. linktr.ee/erikadreifus

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Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Jul 14

By the inimitable Etgar Keret. etgarkeret.substack.com/p/on-cultura...

Title: On Cultural Boycotts and Apple Strudel. "A few days ago, PEN America’s president, Dinaw Mengestu, resigned from his position because of an article about the boycott of Jewish and Israeli writers following the Gaza war, for which I was interviewed. Full disclosure: neither Mengestu nor I are the victims in the bloody conflict that has raged in this region for almost three years, leaving tens of thousands of women and children dead in Gaza, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese homeless, Israelis mourning the casualties of the October 7 attacks, and the dead still being buried in Iran and several Gulf states. All these people’s suffering is infinitely greater than mine or Mengestu’s, which doesn’t stop me from giving impassioned interviews or him from demonstratively resigning his post, as if our words could decide the fate of the world. And somehow, this whole charged atmosphere reminded me of an ancient argument between my mother and her neighbor. Spoiler: it began with Nazis but ended with dessert."

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Jul 2

And I would argue that this framing transcends the journal that @petersinger.bsky.social writes about here. I’m thinking of other academic/professional journals as well as literary publications/trade magazines that run (and/or aggregate and amplify) journalism, book reviews, and other (NON)fiction.

I would argue that the difference between a scholar and a revolutionary — or an editor and a pamphleteer—is a sense of responsibility for the consequences of the words you publish. To me, that responsibility is exactly the issue — and it raises the question of what the journal should do.

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Jun 30

Welcome to the July newsletter, featuring dozens of fee-free *and* paying/funded calls and competitions that are now (or will soon be) open for submissions and applications. Please share with *your* #WritingCommunity! erikadreifus.substack.com/p/the-practi...

announcing the availability of the July 2026 issue of The Practicing Writer 2.0.

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Jun 28

So many of us tried to tell you, @pressfreedom.bsky.social (and those who cited your info, such as @penamerica.bsky.social).

New York, June 25, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is conducting a full review of its database of journalists killed during the Israel-Gaza War after militant groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) published obituaries identifying as combatants individuals previously listed by CPJ as journalists.

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Jun 15

Mid-month surprise! This morning's supplementary batch of fee-free and paying/funded calls, competitions, and jobs for those in the #WritingCommunity went out early this AM to EVERYONE. Peruse the array at erikadreifus.substack.com/p/opportunit..., and please share.

announcing the latest opportunities update for practicing writers

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Jun 14

NGL—this is nice to see. Many thanks to all 14,000 of you who subscribe to *The Practicing Writer 2.0*. erikadreifus.substack.com

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Jun 1

I'm pretty worried, too, @eggerdc.bsky.social/ @thebulwark.com. www.thebulwark.com/p/the-proble...

But I do worry that the path we’re on is one that makes it easier and easier for Democrats to follow Republicans into just abandoning character-related assessments of their candidates altogether. We’re currently in the midst of a long, painful education in how badly that can go on the GOP side of the aisle. Once you decide moral fiber in your leaders is a luxury your party can no longer afford, it’s amazing how quickly things can get out of hand.

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· May 31

Welcome to the June newsletter, featuring dozens of fee-free *and* paying/funded calls and competitions that are now (or will soon be) open for submissions and applications. Please share with *your* #WritingCommunity! erikadreifus.substack.com/p/the-practi...

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· May 29

"More" includes another superb episode of The Five Books podcast, which prompted me to pluck this volume from the #tbr pile; please meet my #FridayReads. (And ty to @jewishbookcouncil.bsky.social's NuReads program for the gift of this title.)

a copy of Returning: A Search for Home Across Three Centuries by Nicholas Lemann

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· May 13

Many congratulations to the 2026 finalists for the Sami Rohr Prize in Jewish Literature. (This year's prize will be awarded for nonfiction.) www.samirohrprize.org

images of the four finalists and their books, as shared on the SRP homepage.

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· May 12

From a beautiful tribute to Abe Foxman (1940-2026), by @kampeas.bsky.social. ronkampeas.substack.com/p/i-hugged-a...

Netanyahu had broken Abe’s heart, steering Israel into a dark corner dank with hatred and self-regard. A lot of people had broken Abe’s heart. The world was breaking Abe’s heart. The epidemic of antisemitism, the anti-Israel and, yes, anti-Jewish antagonism spreading through a Democratic Party he had embraced in 2020, finally free of nonpartisan shackles, the anti-democratic depredations of Donald Trump and his minions.

And the Jews were breaking Abe’s heart, the Jews who lacked the courage to see themselves through their anger with Netanyahu and understand that Israel was still their best hope, and the Jews who lacked the guts to stand up to Trump and to the antisemitic left.

And yes, guess what, I was breaking Abe’s heart, because I was not writing enough.

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· May 11

Day made by seeing the divine @saralippmann.bsky.social in featured in today's Shelf Awareness. www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?i...

Image of the Day: Sara Lippmann at Narberth Bookshop.

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· May 1

From The Artists Against Antisemitism: a sampling of books about Jewish artists/artistic practice, from multiple disciplines, as we celebrate #OurSharedHeritage. #JAHM #MYJAHM #JewishAmericanHeritageMonth #JewishHeritageMonth bookshop.org/lists/jewish...

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Apr 30

Welcome to the May newsletter, featuring dozens of fee-free *and* paying/funded calls and competitions that are now (or will soon be) open for submissions and applications. Please share with *your* #WritingCommunity! erikadreifus.substack.com/p/the-practi...

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Apr 24

My #FridayReads this #IndieBookstoreDay weekend.

When We See You Again by Rachel Goldberg-Polin

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Apr 22

From today's must-read piece. This one, "Introduction to Gazology," is by Matti Friedman, and it addresses "a new literary genre" that "refashions the ruins of Gaza into a dark political parable with a familiar villain." Essential. www.thefp.com/p/introducti...

The Gaza war has been fought a two-hour drive from my Jerusalem home by people I know, and has claimed the lives of several of them. For me, reading the back covers of these books left the impression of a genre related to the actual territory of Gaza as the Dune novels are related to the actual NASA space program. At the same time, it wasn’t fringe work. Among the practitioners were authors who have recently won a National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and additional accolades.

After reading more in subsequent months, I came to think of the genre as “Gazology.” By this term I don’t mean the study of the real territory of Gaza, or of the terrible human tragedy caused by the Hamas offensive of October 7 and by the Israeli response in the war that followed—vast tracts of Gaza destroyed, tens of thousands of civilians killed along with tens of thousands of combatants, and aftershocks across the Middle East. Gazology is not reportage, and most of its practitioners are not in or even near Gaza or Israel. This is a Western literary genre with its own rules, tropes, and goals.

It’s likely that much Western culture, journalism, and politics in the coming years will be downstream of these books and the ideology behind them. Students in disciplines from anthropology to medicine will be assigned these works and invited to see the world’s problems through the lens of “Gaza.” For this reason, the genre is important. What follows is a survey of five representative samples of the volumes in question, in an attempt to sketch the contours of this expanding body of writing and to understand what it is trying to say.

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Apr 19

For me, any mention of *The Sorrow and the Pity* brings to mind Stanley Hoffmann's 1972 essay—which I first read in 1989—including this paragraph, which hit me powerfully as a college student at the time & has echoed in other contexts many times since. www.commentary.org/articles/sta...

For Americans, who have never experienced sudden, total defeat and the almost overnight disappearance of their accustomed political elites; who have never lived under foreign occupation; who do not know what Nazi pressure meant; who have never had any apparently legal government, headed by a national hero and claiming total obedience, that sinks deeper and deeper into a morass of impotence, absurdity, and crime; who have never had to worry first and last about food and physical survival, the wise and gentle warning of Anthony Eden must be heeded: do not judge too harshly—especially if you keep in mind all that is not graphically recorded here, and if you remember that the movie you watch is both a revelation, and a weapon in a painful domestic battle of the French with their past.

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Apr 19

This week's #SundaySentence comes from one of the superb stories in *3 by Sara Lippmann* ( @saralippmann.bsky.social ). www.erikadreifus.com/2026/04/sund...

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Apr 14

On this #YomHaShoah, please spend a few moments with these survivors and their stories. www.yadvashem.org/remembrance/...

Images of Saadia Bahat, Miriam Bar Lev, and Ilana Fallach, three of the six "torchlighters" featured in this year's observance.

Images of Moshe Harari, Avigdor Neumann, and Michael Sidko, three of the "torchlighters" featured in this year's observance.

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Apr 13

#YomHaShoah begins this evening. Image credit: Yad Vashem and Yoav Kahana Learn more at www.yadvashem.org/remembrance/...

a poster created to commemorate Yom HaShoah

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Apr 9

One highlight this week on My Machberet: a #TBT spotlight on POETRY magazine's "Contemporary Israeli Verse" issue (July 1958; h/t Armin Rosen). #NationalPoetryMonth #TranslationThurs www.erikadreifus.com/2026/04/jewi...

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Mar 31

Welcome to the April newsletter, featuring dozens of fee-free *and* paying/funded calls and competitions that are now (or will soon be) open for submissions and applications. Please share with *your* #WritingCommunity! erikadreifus.substack.com/p/the-practi...

announcing the April edition of The Practicing Writer 2.0. Spotlighting 55+ fee-free AND paying/funded opportunities for writers of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Mar 30

Coming soon: the APRIL newsletter. For now: one last batch of March #MondayMotivation opportunity updates for the #WritingCommunity. www.erikadreifus.com/2026/03/mark...

fee-free and paying opportunities for writers

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Mar 29

#SundaySentence via Sarah Wildman's latest beautiful essay. www.erikadreifus.com/2026/03/sund...

Children are all too often found languishing alone in their bedrooms, direct messaging their friends, which not only reduces the likelihood of their being covered in leeches but also vastly decreases their chances of discovering anything at all.

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Mar 24

From @jessebrown.bsky.social's new piece for @theatlantic.com.

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Mar 1

Welcome to the March newsletter, featuring dozens of fee-free *and* paying/funded calls and competitions that are now (or will soon be) open for submissions and applications. Please share with *your* #WritingCommunity. erikadreifus.substack.com/p/the-practi...

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Feb 25

Once again, PEN America has been in the news. Ten days after I sent a letter to @nytimes.com responding to their coverage, that text is no longer "exclusive" to them. My letter, and more, in this new post. erikadreifus.substack.com/p/about-pen-...

screenshot from the Substack post, showing headline about PEN America "naming new leadership after Gaza fallout."

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Feb 19

Amen, @peterhymn.bsky.social, and thank you. peterhimmelman.substack.com/p/i-recorded...

I feel compelled to speak against what I regard as a false charge of genocide, now amplified by politicians, influencers, and many noteworthy voices in entertainment. Below the video you will find a petition, drafted by my friend, the renowned author Yossi Klein Halevi, along with others.

I know there are readers here who may not see this as I do, or who may come to me for different kinds of posts. I respect that, and can only say that in this column I have always tried to write and share in good faith. This is no different. The issue I address here matters deeply to me, not only because it touches on the safety of my people, the Jews, but because it raises larger concerns about the meaning of language and our shared obligation to truth.

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Feb 18

Delighted to begin the day with the National Jewish Book Awards announcement and to be able to congratulate a number of friends and colleagues whose books have been thus recognized. Find out more via @jewishbookcouncil.bsky.social: www.jewishbookcouncil.org/pb-daily/75t...

covers of winning titles for the National Jewish Book Awards

Erika Dreifus@erikadreifus· Feb 17

From @phoebebovy.bsky.social's "Another Month, Another Anti-Zionist Jewish Literary Manifesto" (@thecjn.bsky.social).