JLife previews Milim, the Jewish literature movement in Leeds for 2019.
Milim, the Leeds Jewish literature festival is going from strength to strength. As well as its usual month of words in March, it is also putting on a regular programme of events throughout the year focusing on aspects of Jewish thought, life, literature, history and culture. Milim events include events that feature discussion and debate on sport, politics, geography, poetry, drama and much more.
The Leeds literary movement’s first event of 2019 is Gideon Klein: Portrait of a Composer, a theatrical presentation using actors and musicians to tell the story of a young Czech Jewish musician who was on the cusp of a remarkable career, yet whose potential was tragically cut short when he perished during the Holocaust. On 27th January the re-write of Gideon Klein: Portrait of a Composer by Leeds playwright Brian Daniels based on the original script devised by Leeds musicologist Dr David Fligg will be premiered at the Riley Theatre at Northern School of Contemporary Dance. It is an intimate, poignant, and at times humorous account of artistic and Jewish life in Prague immediately before and during the German occupation and of Gideon’s struggles to survive imprisonment.
The event coincides with Gideon Klein centenary events in 2019 and David Fligg’s biography of Gideon Klein which will be published in English and Czech next year.
This will be followed on 28th February by the festival opening event with Leeds-born Tim Marshall, writer of The New York Times bestselling Prisoners of Geography, in which journalist Tim used 10 maps of crucial regions to explain the geo-political strategies of the world powers. Tim began his journalistic career reporting for LBC as Paris Bureau Correspondent for three years and was also the longstanding foreign affairs editor and then diplomatic editor for Sky News.
On World Book Day 2019 on 7th March, Professor Griselda Pollock will discuss her book, Charlotte Salomon and the Theatre of Memory, a long-awaited, new interpretation of Salomon’s singular and complex modern artwork, at the festival’s annual Poetry Café. Novelist and screenwriter Natasha Solomons, a bestselling author of four novels that have been translated into 17 languages and will also be in attendance at the festival.
Dates and locations are yet to be announced, but to keep up-to-date with festival news and announcements, visit Milim.org.uk.