Fiction Addiction

Hello Visitor,
Welcome to my February newsletter!
I just returned from participating in my first ever book festival. One of the perks includes meeting authors from around the world. In this issue, I share a Q&A with one of the festival creatives from South Africa, artist and writer, Terry Kurgan. She combines photography and non-fiction into award-winning material.
Read my pre-festival interview with Vancouver's Jewish Independent and let me know if you have more questions. By the way, Passport Control made it to #577 on Amazon's top Jewish lit books this week--much to be thankful for. 
It was also delightful to spend time with some of Toronto's book-loving community, who hosted me for a week of author talks as an extension of my Canada trip. 
Enjoy!
Gila

Meet Terry Kurgan

BIO: Terry Kurgan is an eminent South African artist and writer based in Johannesburg. She has exhibited and published widely in South Africa and internationally, and has been the recipient of numerous fine art and writing awards. Everyone is Present is her first work of creative non-fiction. It won the 2019 Alan Paton Award (South Africa), was a 2019 National Jewish Book Awards Finalist (USA), and was shortlisted for the 2019 Photo Arles Book Prize (France).

GG: Your work was inspired by the discovery of your Polish grandfather's diaries and later some of your grandmother's secrets. What did you know about your grandparents beforehand?

Interview with Vancouver's Jewish independent

From the first page, White Zion reads like a memoir. Through 16 short stories, we get to know Miriam and her family, from her great-grandparents to her own children, as well as the places they are from, including Yemen, Israel at various points in its history and Canada. It is easy to wonder how much of Miriam is her creator, Israeli-based writer Gila Green, who will be at the Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival Feb. 9.

"The stories in White Zion are all about emotional truths," Green told the Jewish Independent. "So, if that's what's coming across, that is some measure of success. I did not say this but Alice Munro did – I recall reading an interview with her in which she said: 'If your audience thinks all you did was wake up and write down everything that happened to you yesterday, then you've succeeded.' I would love to hear about how readers relate to these emotional truths, how they connect."

Gila Green: Day One of the vancouver jewish book festival