麻豆影院

The Program in Jewish Studies and co-sponsors at CU 麻豆影院 welcome award-winning author and journalist听Ariel Sabar, who will host a public lecture titled 鈥淧aradise Lost and Found,鈥� focusing on his best-selling book听My Father鈥檚 Paradise: A Son鈥檚 Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq.

The lecture will take place from 7听to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb.听8, in the Old Main theater on campus. This event is free and open to the public, but space is limited; RSVPs are appreciated to cujewishstudies@colorado.edu.

Yona Sabar, Ariel鈥檚 father, was a distinguished professor at UCLA and one of the world鈥檚 foremost experts on Aramaic, the 3,000-year-old language of the Jewish Talmud鈥攁nd of Jesus. But Ariel鈥檚 life seemed a far cry from his father鈥檚. Yona had been born in an ancient village of Aramaic-speaking Jewish in the mountains of Kurdish Iraq鈥攖he oldest corner of the Jewish diaspora鈥攂ut for Ariel, his father might as well have been born on the moon. Then Ariel had his own son, and everything changed.

Sabar鈥檚 talk will weave together the remarkable story of the Kurdish Jewish and their Aramaic tongue with the moving tale of how a consummate California kid came to write a book about his family鈥檚 Kurdish roots.

麻豆影院 the speaker

Sabar听won the National Book Critics Circle Award for his debut book,听My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for his Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq听(2008).听His second book,听Heart of the City听(2011), was called a 鈥渂eguiling romp鈥� (The New York Times) and an 鈥渆ngaging, moving and lively read鈥� (Toronto Star).听His Kindle Single,听The Outsider: The Life and Times of Roger Barker听(2014), was a best-selling nonfiction short.听

Sabar is also an award-winning journalist whose work has听appeared in The听New York Times, The Atlantic, Harper's Magazine, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Mother Jones听补苍诲听This American Life,听among many other places. He听graduated听magna cum laude from听Brown University.

Sabar鈥檚 visit is part of the new Community Talks Series in the Program in Jewish Studies, made possible in part by a grant from the Rose Community Foundation. A subscription series, Community Talks features nationally and internationally renowned scholars, authors, artists听and performers for themed public events with the goal of enriching community learning and expanding access to academic programming on Jewish culture and history.

Guarantee your spot at all of our Community Talks events by becoming a subscription member. Subscribers will receive sneak previews, exclusive offers听and intimate dinners and salons with visiting speakers. Learn more and subscribe.

This event is supported by CU 麻豆影院鈥檚 Program in Jewish Studies, Department of Ethnic Studies, Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations, Department of English, Department of Religious Studies, and Mediterranean Studies Group.