The Role of Belief in Plot Structure in Fiction

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In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Dara Horn, a leading contemporary Jewish writer, about how fiction and non-fiction can change the way we view our fellow Jews. While we at 18Forty love scholarly and factual writing, fiction has long enabled the Jewish people to be more imaginative and contemplative about the meaning of Jewish identity and memory in our collective past, present, and future. In this episode we discuss:

• What is Dara Horn’s writing process?
• What is the role of belief in literature?
• Are there living Jews whom we struggle to love?

Tune in to hear a conversation about how, as Dara says, “the uncomfortable moments are where the story is.”

Interview begins at 7:17. Dara Horn is a Jewish American novelist, essayist, and professor of literature. She has written five novels and in 2021, released a non-fiction essay collection titled People Love Dead Jews, which was a finalist for the 2021 Kirkus Prize in non-fiction. Her other books include All Other Nights, The World to Come, Eternal Life, and A Guide for the Perplexed. Dara joins us to talk about Jewish stories, in fiction and non-fiction.

References:

Eternal Life by Dara Horn Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman

Sin•a•gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought by David Bashevkin

Breakdown & Bereavement by Yosef Haim Brenner

“Becoming Anne Frank” by Dara Horn

People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn

“Savoring the Haterade: Why Jews Love Dara Horn’s ‘People Love Dead Jews’” by Shaul Magid

“American Jews Know How This Story Goes” by Dara Horn

Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory by Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi

All Other Nights by Dara Horn

College Commons Podcast from Hebrew Union College

Adventures with Dead Jews from Dara Horn

Mr. Mani by A. B. Yehoshua

Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error by Kathryn Schulz

“Message” by Avi Shafran

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