Big Blue Marble welcomes two Mt. Airy authors in conversation about the role of powerful historical events in fiction. Simone Zelitch and Jeffrey K. Markovitz are both faculty at Community College of Philadelphia, and have both written novels set in the period of the Holocaust and its aftermath. They’ll both share sections of their books, and then be in dialogue about how history works in their creative works.

Simone Zelitch is the author of five novels which range in subject-matter from a medieval peasant revolt to Mississippi Freedom Summer to real and imaginary Jewish history and legend.  Her most recent book, Judenstaat (Tor 2016)  is an alternative history about a  Jewish state established in Germany rather than Palestine in 1948.  Judenstaat is forthcoming in paperback from PM Press later this year. She teaches at Community College of Philadelphia.   Find out more about her work at www.simonezelitch.com

Jeffrey S. Markovitz is a Professor of English and Creative Writing and is the Director of the Creative Writing Certificate Program at the Community College of Philadelphia.  His fiction, non-fiction, and poetry have appeared in various print and online publications. His books include: The Sharpest End (forthcoming 2019, Sharp End Publishing), Permanent for Now (Unsolicited Press, 2018),—for Olivia (The Head and the Hand Press, 2013), and Into the Everything (Punkin Books, 2011).  In 2015, his short story, “Threads,” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.   He lives here in Mt. Airy.