Jewish Life in Harbin, China: A Conversation with Jean Hoffmann Lewanda by Susan Blumberg-Kason Interviews [email protected] Tue, 01/07/2025 - 07:08 Shalama and Paul, Shanghai, 1950. Photo courtesy of Jean Hoffmann LewandaI met the author Jean Hoffmann Lewanda for lunch this past November in New Jersey, not too far from her home in suburban Philadelphia. Jean is the author of a new book, Shalama: My 96 Seasons in China (Earnshaw, 2024), the story of her mother’s childhood in Harbin, China, and young adult years in Shanghai. Jean’s first book, Witness to History: From Vienna to Shanghai: A Memoir of Escape, Survival and Resilience, is an edited edition of her father’s memoir tracing his escape from Nazi-controlled Vienna to the safe shores of Shanghai in the late 1930s. Jean and I originally met online thanks to mutual friends who are historians and the authority on everything Old Shanghai. When we met in person in November, we spoke for hours about publishing Jewish Chinese stories. We expanded this conversation over email. Susan Blumberg-Kason: Thank you, Jean, for continuing our lovely conversation back in November. I don’t remember coming across other authors who have personal connections to both the old Shanghai and Harbin Jewish communities, each of which numbered in the thousands. Your mother was the daughter of Russian Jewish refugees, and your father was an Austrian Jewish refugee. Was it unusual for people in these... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2025-01-07 13:08:24 UTC ]
With the film adaptation of Andy Weir’s 'The Martian' set to open in theaters on October 2, the novel topped Apple’s iBooks bestseller list for the week ended September 28. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
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Antonia Hodgson and MJ Carter are among the authors shortlisted for The 2015 Historical Writers’ Association's (HWA) Debut Crown Award for historical fiction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
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Days after the film adaptation of 'Paper Towns' hit theaters, John Green's 2008 novel hit #1 on Apple's iBooks bestseller list. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Spurling has won the £25,000 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction for his novel set in imperial China, The Ten Thousand Things (Duckworth), a book which is said to have been rejected 44 times by publishers. Spurling beat off competition from Martin Amis, Helen Dunmore, Hermione... Continue reading at The Bookseller
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A novel set in imperial China wins the £25,000 Water Scott Prize for Historical Fiction at the Borders Book Festival. Continue reading at BBC News
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As booksellers, librarians, and publishers descended on the Javits Center for the first full day of BookExpo America, there was strong early interest across all age ranges and genres, including adult books with YA crossover and vice versa. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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India's Ritesh Batra is to direct the film adaptation of The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes' Booker-winning novel, with British actor Jim Broadbent in the lead. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2015-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mark Smith at Zaffre, the new adult fiction imprint at Bonnier Publishing, has sold US rights for L S Hilton's Maestra in a seven-figure pre-empt to Putnam. Maestra is the first of three psychological thrillers set in the art world, and has already been optioned by Columbia Pictures for a film... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ridley Scott is on board to produce a film adaptation of Anita Moorjani’s book about her four-year battle against cancer (Hay House). Scott has teamed with Giannina Facio and Colet Abedi to option Dying To Be Me, which will be produced through Ridley Scott Films and Cara Films Ltd,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The first book acquired by Zaffre, the adult fiction imprint of Bonnier Publishing, has been optioned by Columbia Pictures for a film adaptation. Amy Pascal, a producer for the forthcoming "Ghostbusters", "Spider-Man", and Angelia Jolie's Cleopatra movie, is set to produce the film adaptation... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gemma Arterton, Paddy Considine and Glenn Close will star in the film adaptation of M R Carey’s novel The Girl With All the Gifts (Orbit) called “She Who Brings Gifts” for Altitude Film Entertainment. The film will be the debut of director Colm McCarthy, who has previously directed on TV shows... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Maria Semple’s 2012 novel Where’d You Go, Bernadette (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) is being adapted into a film, with Oscar-nominated Richard Linklater lined up to direct. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Martin Amis, Sarah Waters and Jessie Burton have made the 15-strong longlist for the 2015 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. The longlist has been released for the first time following a 40% increase in entries this year. Amis is longlisted for his dark love story set in a Nazi... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As anticipation continues to mount for the Valentine’s Day release of the 'Fifty Shades of Grey' film adaptation, the book hit #1 on Apple’s iBooks bestseller list. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
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While ebooks are everywhere, electronic textbooks never really caught on, despite their potential to bring immersive learning at a lower cost. Amazon is trying to change that with the Kindle Textbook Creator, a free app from its newly formed Kindle ... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2015-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The wait is almost over for 'Seventh Son,' the film adaptation of Joseph Delaney's The Last Apprentice. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-01-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nearly two weeks after the premiere of its film adaptation, Laura Hillenbrand’s 'Unbroken' continues to dominate Apple’s bestseller list. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
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A film adaptation of a bestselling book by France's former First Lady about her six-year relationship with president Francois Hollande is in development, its producer says. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2015-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Students at MIT, Stanford, and elsewhere are learning to build technology products with user well-being in mind.Facebook sparked outrage this summer when it published results of a study conducted on unwitting users. The study looked at whether people who were shown more positive or negative... Continue reading at Fast Company
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Just days ahead of the debut of the film adaptation of 'If I Stay,' Gayle Forman’s novel was once again the top seller in Apple’s iBooks store. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
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