Reports from a Haunted Present | Dara Horn (USA)in Conversation with Suzanne Nossel (USA)

Dara Horn is an American Jewish novelist and essayist, a three-time winner of the National Jewish Book Award (2003, 2006, and 2021). Her book People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present offers a sharp and profound critique of how the West engages with Jews and Judaism—primarily through the prism of death, persecution, and destruction—while overlooking the living, complex, and ongoing reality of Jewish existence. Horn argues that society tends to show interest, compassion, and at times even identification with Jews only when they are victims of the past, rather than living subjects with a voice, culture, and sovereignty in the present.

Suzanne Nossel previously held senior positions in the U.S. government, including at the State Department under Hillary Clinton. A human rights advocate, her book Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All (2020) received enthusiastic reviews. She served for nearly a decade as CEO of PEN America, during which time the organization’s activities expanded significantly, its budget grew tenfold, and it became an influential institution shaping public opinion in the United States and globally. Beginning in October 2023, she found herself at the center of a major controversy due to her insistence on the importance of including Israeli voices in global discourse during the war between Israel and Hamas. Some writers and members of the organization expressed a lack of confidence in her leadership, and there were also resignations and departures. In 2024, Nossel announced that she would step down as CEO in light of these challenges.

Horn will speak with Nossel about the meaning of contemporary American Jewish writing and its relationship to Israel; about the dramatic shift in the image of Jews in the United States since October 7 and its aftermath; and about how these changes have affected her writing and her life. Together, they will offer a compelling glimpse into the transformations and upheavals shaping American Jewry in recent years.

The discussion will be held in English