Jewish Book Festival 2024

Jewish Book Festival

Enjoy Jewish literature, meet authors, get your Chanukah shopping done, renew your library, and celebrate with pride!

Book Sale in partnership with Owl’s Nest – November 24 to December 1*
10:00am to 5:00pm
*No Book Festival on Saturday, November 30 due to Shabbat observance

Chanukah Market – Sunday, November 24
10:00am to 4:00pm
Come find that perfect gift or must-have for the holidays. Shop handmade goods from independent artists from holiday cards to jewelry, and pick up your Chanukah staples.

The Jewish Book Festival is possible through the generous donation of the Harry and Martha Cohen Foundation.

Wednesday, November 27 – David Jay Bercuson

7:00 – 8:00pm | Canada’s Air Force: The Royal Canadian Air Force at 100 

Join David Bercuson as he shares the personal journey that led him to write Canada’s Air Force: The Royal Canadian Air Force at 100. Inspired by the memory of his cousin and uncle – both named Bernard Bercuson – who served in the Royal Canadian Air Forces during the Second World War, David was moved to dedicate this work to their legacy as Jewish service members.

About David Jay Bercuson
David Bercuson specializes in Canadian military and diplomatic history and Canadian
defence policy. He was the Director of the Centre for Military, Security and Strategic
Studies at the University of Calgary from 1999 to 2019 and is former Director of
Programs of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, a Calgary-based think tank. He
served on the Board of Governors of Royal Military College. He has published on a wide
range of topics specializing in modern Canadian politics, Canadian defence and foreign
policy and Canadian military history. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and has
two honourary degrees. His latest book is Our Finest Hour: Canada Fights the Second
World War which was published in October, 2015. His history of the RCAF, Canada’s
Airforce: the RCAF at 100, was recently published on by University of Toronto Press.

Friday, November 29 – Trudy Cowan

10:00 – 11:00am | Little Grey Mouse: A Fable in Fabric
Join us for a cozy Tot Shabbat storytime with beloved author, Trudy Cowan. She will share the Little Grey Mouse: A Fable in Fabric – a heartwarming story of a little grey mouse who searches for happiness through colour. Trudy will showcase the unique quilts she created to illustrate her story, adding a vibrant, tactile element to the storytelling. Afterward, children are invited to enjoy a colourful craft activity to keep the joy and creativity going!

In partnership with PJ Library®.

About Trudy Cowan
Trudy Cowan is an award-winning textile artist and storyteller. After retiring from a career in the world of museums and historic sites for which she received an honorary doctorate, she turned to the world of art, particularly fabrics and fibres. Named Quilter of Distinction at the Heritage Park Quilt Festival in 2017, Trudy’s fibre art quilts, including commissions, live happily in collections across Canada and the US.  Always a storyteller, her children’s books delight youngsters and adults alike.  She’ll come to the Calgary Jewish Book Festival to tell the story of her “Little Grey Mouse” and will bring her beautiful quilted illustrations that bring the tale to life.  Book purchase and signing will be available after her performance.

Sunday, December 1 – Lady Gilbert

2:00 – 3:00pm | Mapmaker, Mapmaker, Make Me a Map: Jewish History through the Atlases of Sir Martin Gilbert z”l
Join Sir Martin Gilbert’s widow, Lady Esther Gilbert, as she charts the diversity of Jewish geography through Sir Martin’s atlases: Jewish History, Holocaust History, and the Atlas of the Arab-Israel Conflict. See where history meets geography, where each map tells a Jewish story. An exclusive presentation introduced by author Douglas Century. Following the presentation, Irena Karshenbaum will moderate a Q&A session, offering an interactive experience for attendees.

In partnership with Jewish Historical Society of Southern Alberta.

About Lady Gilbert
Named after her grandmother who was killed in the Shoah, Esther spent the 1980s in Edmonton, where she became involved with Federation’s Generation After Committee. Her work in bringing Rudolf Vrba to Edmonton 36 years ago led to a correspondence with Sir Martin Gilbert, who had extensively written about Vrba’s escape from Auschwitz and the report that brought Auschwitz’s atrocities to the Allies. Years later, she began a project to index published survivor memoirs, which evolved into three volumes of Holocaust Memoir Digest.

Esther also created a six-lecture series titled Holocaust 101, covering Jewish history, antisemitism, the Shoah, and the establishment of Israel. In recent decades, she assisted Sir Martin with his work and, since his passing, has focused on maintaining his legacy. She continues to manage the website martingilbert.com and writes monthly newsletters featuring excerpts from his books. She now resides in Canmore, Alberta, and has two daughters—one in Canmore and one in Israel.

Sir Martin Gilbert, a renowned historian, authored 88 books, including 6 of the 8 volumes of Winston Churchill’s biography. His areas of interest spanned Churchill’s life (15 books), the Holocaust (11 books), Israel (13 books), the World Wars (8 books), and 20th-century history. He was appointed a CBE in 1990 and became a Knight Bachelor in 1995. Sir Martin passed away in 2015, and upon marrying him, Esther became “Lady Gilbert.”

Sunday, December 1

3:30 – 4:30pm  | Meet and Greet with Authors
An opportunity to meet local authors, discover their books and discuss their work.