Upcoming Shabbaton & Dinner. Friday, Jan 14, 2011
December 27, 2010 by RabbiAri
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show The Writer’s Almanac. November’s poems have appeared in some of the most prestigious literary magazines including Prairie Schooner, The Sun, Margie, Provincetown Arts, and New Works Review, and featured in numerous Jewish publications, such as The Forward, The Jewish Week, Midstream, Zeek, European Judaism, and Kerem. His book tour includes readings at universities, Chabad Houses, and The National Jewish Retreat, where he will give a workshop on Torah and the arts. Twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize, November teaches writing at Rutgers University and Touro College. To read sample poems or the foreword to G-d’s Optimism, visit www.mainstreetrag.com“November’s poems are uncommonly good…The 31-year-old poet captures not only emotion but also those religious yearnings, questions, and attempts to reach out to G-d that are largely unspoken.” –Sandee Brawarsky, Jewish Week Book Critic
“To read G-d’s Optimism is to remember what poetry is meant to be: musical, tender, philosophical, generous-hearted. When I read November’s poetry I am ashamed ever to have called myself a poet, for I know I am in the presence of a young master—as honest and witty as Kafka, as visionary as Doestoevski, but with a voice and presence all his own. This book is an astonishing debut.” –Liz Rosenberg, from the Foreword to G-d’s Optimism
In “the spectacular Hasidic verse of the young and rising poet Yehoshua November…there is no hint of the falsely pious certainties such as fuel the apocalyptic passions of those who hate, but instead the more existentially harrowing vision of those who love—and who, bereft of all certitude, are sustained by the luminescent thread of the Rebbe’s mystical teachings.” –Brett Sanders, Editor of New Works Review
“The invisible world and the mundane one are always rubbing shoulders in Yehoshua November’s crafted, imagistic poems. I admire and am moved by the spirit of stillness, and honesty of inquiry of these small landscapes and stories. They are tender as candlelight and full of the sorrowful mirth of their tradition, which treasures the unknowable.” –Tony Hoagland
“G-d’s Optimism is a highly distinctive and original book, a book of serious spiritual devotion. The struggles and emotions of the book are compelling in ways that even a non-Jew would be moved by. In other words—this is a work of art. I read G-d’s Optimism with great pleasure.” –Lynn Emanuel
“…November’s poetry reminds us that Orthodox or Reform, Jew or non-Jew, we are not so different after all.”–Lee Chottiner, The Jewish Chronicle
“…November’s poetry is accessible, with a gentleness, and sometimes a melancholy that speaks to and captivates the reader… [G-d’s Optimism] is a rich collection filled with the rhythms of everyday life that encompass the striving for a higher level each individual longs to attain.” –Gila Wertheimer, Chicago Jewish Star