Book Reading by Clare Kinberg

Join the University of Iowa (UI) Jewish Studies Network, an International Programs affinity group, for a special event with author Clare Kinberg. Kinberg will read from her novel, By the Waters of Paradise: An American Story of Racism and Rupture in a Jewish Family, and share reflections on uncovering long-hidden truths within her family’s history.

Clare Kinberg is a white Jewish woman whose wife and daughters are descendants of the African diaspora. When she discovered her estranged Aunt Rose’s death certificate in 2016, she unlocked a family secret that had been hidden for generations: her white Jewish aunt had married a Black man. Kinberg’s exploration of the intertwined forces of segregation, racism, and antisemitism, through generations of one family’s history, resulted in this beautiful and timely memoir.

This event is co-sponsored by the Jewish Studies Network, International Programs, and the UI Departments of American Studies; Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies; History, and Religious Studies.

About the Author

Clare Kinberg has been an organizer in the lesbian, feminist, and anti-war movements for more than 40 years. She is the publisher and editor of the Washtenaw Jewish News, a monthly newspaper in southeast Michigan, and from 1989-2011, was editor of the international literary/political biannual Bridges: A Jewish Feminist Journal. For many years she worked as a librarian and teacher and as director of religious schools in various Jewish denominations. Her writing on Jewish culture, the Jewish Labor Bund, and Israel/Palestine has appeared in Tablet, Sh’ma, Bridges, and Detroit Jewish News, and many other publications.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa–sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Daniel Vorwerk in advance at 319-497-1619 or [email protected].