Montreal launch of A Dream of Birds

Here's an announcement of our upcoming event this sunday. If you anywhere within a hundred miles of Montreal it'd be nice to see you, if not to hear me and Seymour then at least to hear Ira Robinson talk about an intriguing, little written about chapter in Montreal's Jewish history. Another bonus is that Sharon Katz's multiple-award winning animated film "Slide" will be screened. She designed our book and used bird images from the film.

The Jewish Public Library in collaboration with the Concordia Institute for Canadian Jewish Studies present (More than a) book launch of

“Rabbis and Their Community” by Ira Robinson
AND
“A Dream of Birds” – Word Sonnets by Seymour Mayne and B. Glen Rotchin

with illustrations by Sharon Katz

SUNDAY, APRIL 6, 2008 AT 7:30 P.M.

Click here to view the flyer

What the Shohtim Did in Their Spare Time

Ira Robinson, Professor of Judaic Studies in the Department of Religion, Concordia University, who has published extensively in the area of Jewish Studies, will talk about early 20th-century Montreal’s Shohtim, men who also often displayed literary and artistic talent. Even with their inherently difficult job of slaughtering cattle for Montreal’s kosher meat industry, they had ample time to pursue other occupations and avocations, including Torah and Jewish philosophy scholarship, journalism and music. In doing so, they contributed significantly to Jewish Montreal’s intellectual atmosphere.
Introduced by Prof. Dr. Norman Ravvin, Chair of the Concordia Institute for Canadian Jewish Studies.

A Dream of Birds

Seymour Mayne, author, editor or translator of more than 50 books, and B. Glen Rotchin, author of fiction and poetry, will launch their joint work of poetry that developed from their casual, back-and-forth dialogue as friends. The resulting literary collaboration came as a surprise even to them, like a flock of grounded birds suddenly exploding into flight. Its theme is birds; the reader might sense the push and pull of wing force in the cadences that cross its pages. The poems are responsive, sometimes playing off one another, at other times dueling.
The book also features a flip-book animated sequence of drawings by artist/film-maker Sharon Katz that is visible when its pages are turned. It also includes illustrations from Slide, her short animated film, which will also be screened at the launching.

Books and autographs available. Reception sponsored by the Tauben Family Foundation of the JPL.

Jewish Public Library, 5151 Côte Ste-Catherine
$5 JPL members/students, $10 non-members
Info: (514) 345-2627 ext. 3017
Reception to follow