Thursday, May 8, 2025
7 – 8 pm EDT
Scheuer Auditorium

The Saul and Gladys Gwirtzman Lecture

Join authors Stuart Nadler and Iddo Gefen for a conversation about the secrets families tell each other to keep them together, and the dire (and not so dire!) consequences those secrets can have.  Moderated by writer and podcast host, Stephanie Butnick.

Copies of Stuart Nadler’s Rooms for Van­ish­ing and Iddo Gefen’s Mrs. Lilien­blum’s Cloud Fac­to­ry will be available for purchase and signing at the event.

About the speakers:
Stu­art Nadler is the author of three nov­els and a short sto­ry col­lec­tion. His most recent nov­el, The Insep­a­ra­bles, was named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus, and was a final­ist for the Mark Twain Prize for the Amer­i­can Voice. He is a recip­i­ent of the 5 Under 35 Award from the Nation­al Book Foun­da­tion. His new nov­el, Rooms for Van­ish­ing, will be pub­lished in March 2025. He teach­es in the MFA pro­gram at Ben­ning­ton College.

Iddo Gefen, born in 1992 in Tel Aviv, is cur­rent­ly based in New York City. He is an accom­plished author and a Ph.D. stu­dent in cog­ni­tive psy­chol­o­gy at Colum­bia Uni­ver­si­ty and the Zuck­er­man Insti­tute for Neu­ro­science. His research explores the intri­cate rela­tion­ship between nar­ra­tive under­stand­ing, human mem­o­ry, and deci­sion-mak­ing. Gefen’s debut book, Jerusalem Beach, earned the pres­ti­gious 2023 Sami Rohr Prize for Jew­ish Lit­er­a­ture. His forth­com­ing nov­el, Mrs. Lilien­blum’s Cloud Fac­to­ry, is set to be pub­lished in April 2025.

This event is in partnership with the Jewish Book Council, the Jewish Museum, and GOL­DA, your Jew­ish Lifestyle Guide.

Admis­sion to the event is free and includes an oppor­tu­ni­ty to vis­it the Jewish Museum’s gal­leries on the day of the pro­gram. Advance RSVP is required; how­ev­er, ear­ly arrival is sug­gest­ed as space is lim­it­ed, and entry is not guaranteed.

The Jewish Museum is committed to making its programs accessible to all. For inquiries and requests for live CART interpretation, ASL interpretation, or additional accommodations please email info@thejm.org or call 212.423.3200 ext. 0.