Author Shalom Auslander & Moment Magazine’s Memoir Awards

Author Shalom Auslander & Moment Magazine’s Memoir Awards

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

Spertus was very pleased to partner with Moment magazine and writer Shalom Auslander for the award ceremony of Moment magazine’s memoir writing contest.

At this special event, attendees enjoyed a reading by the contest’s winner, Hillel F. Damron, followed by an appearance by writer Shalom Auslander, guest judge for this contest. Mr. Auslander discussed personal influences on his work, including the quirks of faith and family.

Hillel F. Damron was born in Israel at Kibbutz Hephzibah to parents who survived the Holocaust. As an officer of an elite Israeli paratrooper’s unit, he was wounded in battle. He studied at the London Film School and became a director of television documentaries, feature films, and video shorts. He is the author of short stories and film reviews, as well as the sci-fi novel War of the Sexes and the literary mystery Very Narrow Bridge. He lives in Sacramento, California.

Second-place winner Eve Silberman, a profiles editor and staff writer for the monthly Ann Arbor Observer, also joined us for the evening.

Shalom Auslander has been called “America’s hottest, funniest, most controversial young Jewish memoirist” and his work has been dubbed “blackly hilarious” by The Times of London. He has published articles in Esquire, GQ, The New York Times Magazine, Tablet, and The New Yorker, and is a regular contributor to Public Radio International’s This American Life. He is the author of the short-story collection Beware of God and the acclaimed memoir Foreskin’s Lament. His novel Hope: A Tragedy was just released to rave reviews!

Founded in 1975 by Elie Wiesel and Leonard Fein, Moment is the largest independent Jewish magazine in North America. Its memoir writing contest celebrates the rich and diverse narratives of its readers. Moment will award one first-place award and two honorable mentions to works of outstanding writing.

Please note this event contains explicit language and adult content.

Recorded Sunday, February 12, 2012 at the Spertus Institute.