Ladino Day 2018: Jewish Folktales from the Mediterranean

It is my pleasure to invite you to attend the 6th Annual International Ladino Day at the University of Washington (December 5th at 7 pm in Kane Hall 130).

Our special guest, François Azar, a Judeo-Spanish activist and publisher in Paris, will make his U.S. debut to speak about his two collections of richly illustrated Ladino folktales. Moreover, Seattle’s famed «Ladineros» will present a reading of one of the tales–«The Jewish Parrot» (El Papagayo Djudyo).

It promises to be an entertaining and informative evening–the first Ladino Day to deal with the power of folktales, children and people of all ages as consumers of Ladino culture, and the visual arts. We will also explore the future of Ladino cultural creativity across the world.

Be sure to stay until the end: we will conclude with some Sephardic delicacies (such as those profiled in the New York Times yesterday).

For details and to register, click here. Please take a moment to register to ensure that you get a seat and that we have enough food!

Finally, as a sneak peak, I invite you to read two short pieces about François Azar and his work by our friend and collaborator Hannah Pressman:

«François Azar brings folktales and the French Sephardic revival to Seattle Ladino Day» (Stroum Center website)

«Ladino Day Turns to Storytelling–and to the Future» (Jewish in Seattle)

We in the Sephardic Studies Program and the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies are grateful for all of our sponsors that make Ladino Day possible: the Lucie Benveniste Kavesh Endowed Fund for Sephardic Studies, Congregation Sephardic Bikur Holim, Congregation Ezra Bessaroth, Seattle Sephardic Network, and the Departments of Spanish and Portuguese Studies, French and Italian Studies, Linguistics, and the Turkish & Ottoman Studies Program in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

We look forward to seeing you on December 5th! In the mean time, please be in touch with comments or questions. Please also also visit the Sephardic Studies website and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Al vermos!
Devin Naar