It turns out the 70 faces book tour is going to start a bit earlier than anticipated, and in a truly exciting way: in mid-February, I'll be spending a couple of days as a visiting scholar at Knox College in Galesburg, Ilinois!

While I'm there, I'll get to speak to some students who will have been reading and discussing part of 70 faces -- specifically, the cycle of akedah poems -- as part of their Feminist Methodologies class, and I'll give a poetry reading for The Caxton Club (the Knox Collge literary organization -- named after the first English printer, William Caxton.) Both of those events are designed for the college community.

I'll also have the chance to give a combination lecture-and-reading which will be open to the public:

Midrash: creativity which transforms

Rabbi Rachel Barenblat, author of 70 faces: Torah poems, will speak about the Jewish art of midrash (exegetical stories which explore and explain Bible texts) as transformative storytelling, share examples of a few classical midrash which take Bible texts in fascinating new directions, and then share some of her own contemporary midrash in the form of poems from 70 Faces. Followed by Q-and-A / discussion and book-signing.

Wednesday, February 16th at 7pm - Ferris Lounge (in Seymour Union)
Knox College, 2 E. South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401
For more information, email cdenial (at) knox.edu

If you're in or near Galesburg (or if you feel like a bit of an Illinois roadtrip in mid-February), I hope you'll join us! Here's information on getting to campus. My deep thanks are due to professor Catherine Denial and to everyone else at Knox who's worked to make it possible for me to visit -- and to my mother-in-law for watching young master Drew while I'm away wearing my professional hat (kippah?) for a few days!