David Herman
Jewish Writers and the Holocaust: ‘60s and '70s
Summary
In 1959 Philip Roth published the first great piece of Jewish-American fiction about the Holocaust with his short story, “Eli, the Fanatic.” Following this came Saul Bellow’s “Mr. Sammler’s Planet” in 1969 and Cynthia Ozick’s story, “The Shawl” in 1980. Writing about the Holocaust increased greatly in the 1990s and 2000s. David Herman asks, what is the explanation for the change from silence about the Holocaust to an explosion of plays, stories and novels?
David Herman
David Herman is a freelance writer based in London. Over the past 20 years he has written almost a thousand articles, essays, and reviews on Jewish history and literature for publications including the Jewish Chronicle, the Jewish Quarterly, Jewish Renaissance, the Guardian, the New Statesman, and Prospect. He has taught courses on Jewish culture for the London Jewish Cultural Centre and JW3. He is a regular contributor to Jewish Book Week, the Association of Jewish Refugees, and the Insiders/Outsiders Festival on the contribution of Jewish refugees to British culture.