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Sunday, March 24, 2024

Review of 'West Jerusalem Noir' – short stories

Noir fiction can be defined as crime fiction with dark themes, often featuring 'a disturbing mixture of sex and violence'. The stories of West Jerusalem Noir (Akashic Books, November 2023) are somewhat tamer; their protagonists are confronted with the dark complexities of living in a city filled with national, religious, and socioeconomic tension.

West Jerusalem Noir of the Akashic Noir Series is published simultaneously with East Jerusalem Noir, a companion collection that tells of the unfulfilled hopes and dreams of Jerusalem's Arab residents, their lives vastly different from those living in the western half of the city.

In West Jerusalem Noir, the story 'You Can't See the Occupation from Here' by Ilana Bernstein takes place on the Israeli side of the city. The protagonist works in a secret lab on Hebrew University's Mount Scopus campus, where she's filling in for a translator on maternity leave. Working in the lab 'involves quite a few sacrifices,' she thinks. 'Those who come in here don't leave so quickly'. A Palestinian woman, complete with a 'floral pink and cerulean hijab' is reportedly the CEO of the company. But what about national security? the protagonist wonders. Nothing is as it seems.

In the story 'Arson,' by Ilan Rubin Fields, police investigate whether someone set fire to the trees flanking the gardens of Peace Park, near Jerusalem's French Hill neighborhood. In possibly the best story in the anthology, 'Chrysanthemums' by Asaf Schurr, a father takes it upon himself to cover up his daughter Michal's crime. "You didn't kill anyone, you hear me?" he admonishes her. "I'll take care of everything, understood?"

The heroine of 'Murder at Sam Spiegel' by Liat Elkayam wakes up in a small room in the famed film and television school to find a student filmmaker 'on a swivel chair, his head hanging backward at a completely inhuman angle … a long river of blood snaking from his stomach'. This launches the protagonist into detective mode, but the investigation is more than she can handle.

In Elkayam's story, an entry ramp to the Jerusalem Cinematheque is sprayed with graffiti declaring 'Jerusalem – a city held together with masking tape'. The stories of the collection are taped together by their Jerusalem setting. While some readers may find the book disjointed, with unsatisfactory plots and endings, many of the stories are memorable and will leave much to think about.

The collection's editor, Maayan Eitan, says they take place in a 'concrete, contemporary, and complicated Jerusalem'. She is correct in stating that the 15 stories included in West Jerusalem Noir 'could not have taken place anywhere else'. Indeed, readers will have a 'chance to visit Jerusalem like they've never seen it before'.

Originally posted on The Times of Israel.

Saturday, March 9, 2024

I Run the Jerusalem Marathon 10K and Finish in 18th Place in My Age Category


Perfect weather for a run through the streets of Jerusalem and the alleyways of the Old City. I last ran the Jerusalem Marathon's 10K race in 2019 and I was excited to do it again. The course is challenging, with a number of steep inclines, but I finished with a time of 1 hour and 6 minutes. This ranked me in 18th place out of 87 men in the 65-69 age category.

Amazingly, this was the exact same result as I had in the 2019 race, when I was in a younger age category. Overall, I finished the 10K in 3596th place out of 9,044 racers. I am very happy with my result!


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Wednesday, March 6, 2024

My Short Story "Boxes" Published in 'Door Is A Jar' Literary Magazine

I'm proud to announce that my short story "Boxes" was published yesterday in the Spring 2024 edition of Door Is A Jar Literary Magazine.

Door Is A Jar Literary Magazine is a quarterly print and digital publication of poetry, short fiction, nonfiction, drama, artwork and book reviews. Issue 30, Spring 2024, of the magazine is now live.

The new issue features the creative works of 44 contributors from all around the world.

Door Is A Jar Literary Magazine can be found on the newsstand in Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and independent bookstores nationwide.

Copies of the magazine can be ordered directly from the website.