#WritersCoffeeClub Aug. 15 - From which real-world events have you taken inspiration?

I don't often take inspiration from real world events, preferring to play in my fantasy worlds. But twice I've been inspired by history.

Once for Bound by His Oath, which was originally supposed to be historical fiction set shortly after the Normal conquest of England. I realized quickly I didn't have the spoons or access to do the necessary research and switched the setting to Lost Colony sci-fi. But the three cultures of the world are loosely based on the Norman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse cultures that all clashed together in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest.

And against, even more loosely, for The Price of Survival, I was inspired by Jewish history in Europe. The expulsions and progroms, the court Jews and conversos, all have (or will have) equivalents in this ongoing story.

#AmWriting #Books #JewishHistory

interesting, someone has been updating the Peretz Centre wikipedia article and cited an almost 30 year old Canadian Jewish Studies article by my friend Faith Jones which I wasn't aware of: "Between suspicion and censure: Attitudes towards the Jewish Left in postwar Vancouver."
https://cjs.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cjs/article/view/19832/18536

#Vancouver #JewishHistory

#OnlineEvent | Online Workshop on Suicide in Jewish History by the Jewish Theological Seminary and Lamar University | March 23-24, 2026 | Details: https://www.jewishstudies.de/de/nachrichten/online-workshop-on-suicide-in-jewish-history-jewish-theological-seminary-and-lamar-university/

#JewishHistory #Workshop #Yiddish #Hebrew #Literature

Deadline for proposals: October 8, 2025

The First Divide: Part 2, Understanding the Jewish-Christian Split

https://polymathchristian.wordpress.com/2025/08/07/the-first-divide-part-2-understanding-the-jewish-christian-split/

#ChristianHistory, #JewishHistory, #Jesus, #God, #Christianity, #Judaism, #ReligiousStudies, #Faith, #Bible, #ChurchHistory

From Savor:
Find out why Sicily and Southern Italy have such a unique Sephardic and Jewish history by joining Savor for a FREE webinar next Sunday, August 17th at 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT!

Get a taste for what a Savor travel adventure is all about by singing along with Sarah in Ladino and watching Chef Susan in her kitchen for a cooking demo of a classic Sicilian dish of Jewish origin.

Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_IN-MUwS6QLO9xOfu8zHELQ#/registration

BONUS: Participants will get a special registration discount if they sign up for the trip by August 31!

#Mazeldon #Jewish #Judaism #JewishHistory #JewishFood #Diaspora #Sephardi #MENA

#OnlineRessource | Frankely Judaic Podcasts - a podcast on the newest research being conducted at the University of Michigan in Judaic Studies.

#Research #JewishStudies #Israel #Hebrew #JewishHistory #Diaspora

Details: https://lsa.umich.edu/judaic/resources/frankely-judaic-podcasts.html

From Ritual Well:

Step into the stories of the women of the Bible — not as distant figures, but as bold, complex individuals whose voices still echo in our lives today. Together, we’ll engage Biblical text, midrash, poetry, and art through a feminist, justice-centered lens that reclaims and re-imagines these women’s lives.

Register: https://ritualwell.org/event/women-of-the-hebrew-bible-a-retelling/

#Mazedon #Jewish #Judaism #Torah #JewishWomen #JewishHistory

Fascinating account of an early (around 400 CE) religious building in southern Spain that was believed to be an early Christian basilica, but it seems that very likely it was a synagogue, active but increasingly marginalised in the late Roman empire.

#Castulo #JewishHistory #Judaism #Mazeldon

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/27/spanish-discovery-suggests-roman-era-church-may-have-been-a-synagogue

I'm presenting at this seminar (which is also my capstone project for the certificate program in Unbound #Judaism - from the folks at #JudaismUnbound

The program is free and you can participate via Zoom (thanks to The #SpinozaHavurah), in-person in Oklahoma City (thanks to Joy #Mennonite Church) or via recording.

#ConscientiousObjection #CO #Peace #ShalomSalaam #Judaism #Mazeldon #JewishPeace #PeaceActivism #MilitaryLaw #JewishHistory