Hey Denver people, heads up! I’ll be giving a talk at the BMH Library on Shabbat afternoon, January 26th, at 3:40pm, on the Spanish Jews of the past and present and how I incorporated my research on this topic into By Light of Hidden Candles. Because it’s Shabbat, there will be no book-signing or Powerpoint or photos or videos […]
Interview on Radio Sefarad & A Few Other Updates
I’m going to share a state secret with you: speaking with strangers on the phone is way up there on the list of Things That Terrify Me, somewhere in between “nuclear Holocaust” and “bank statements.” (The distance between those two items on the list is shorter than you might imagine.) But I believe in doing […]
Review of Hidden: The Secret Jews of Spain
Last Sunday, I had the privilege of attending the premiere performance of a new musical co-written by Avital Macales and Sharon Katz: Hidden: The Secret Jews of Spain. View this post on Instagram All right, ladies, let's see your take. 😉 #openingnight #hiddenthemusical A post shared by Daniella Levy (@daniellalevy.author) on Nov 11, 2018 at 9:55am […]
All Kinds of LtJ News!
Well, it’s not really news to those who follow my blog Letters to Josep, so if you’re subscribed to both lists, feel free to ignore this! Breaking Stereotypes & Bridging Differences: Daniella & Josep in Girona On October 14th, I got to live a crazy dream… We spoke about how our unlikely friendship was formed, […]
Daniella & Josep in Girona!
Yesterday I announced some very exciting news on Letters to Josep, and I’m going to share it here as well! (Apologies to those who are seeing it twice… but you have to admit, it’s exciting enough to bear repeating!) Yep! I’m going to Catalonia in 10 days!!! And I’m dragging Josep into the spotlight to […]
‘For Book Clubs & Educators’ Page & Discussion of ‘Cockatoo Tears’
Hello everyone, I hope the summer has been treating you well! I have two announcements: By Light of Hidden Candles Discussion Guide & ‘For Book Clubs & Educators’ Page I mentioned recently that my publisher and I were developing a discussion guide for book clubs reading By Light of Hidden Candles. I’m pleased to announce that […]
Blog Posts & Hidden Candles Discussion Guide
Hey there! I have a few things to share with you: Guest Post on Researching a Novel Last week, fellow author Hannah Ross hosted a guest post from me on her blog, Flight of Fantasy: How to Research Your Novel from the Comfort of Your Home, with Daniella Levy. Did you know that I did […]
My Short Story ‘Cockatoo Tears’ Published in Qu Literary Magazine
Greetings all! I’m very pleased to announce that my short story, Cockatoo Tears, was published in the Spring 2018 edition of Qu Literary Magazine, a contemporary journal from Queens University of Charlotte. Here’s the opening section: “Mom. We have to save the rainforests.” These were the seven words with which my seven-year-old greeted me as she […]
Video of Maqlooba Ceremony from Scarf Sisters!
A few months ago I shared a short story of mine, Scarf Sisters, about an Israeli settler who bonds with a Palestinian woman over their identical headscarves. When I read the story to an audience in Jerusalem, I was asked by several people it was based on a true story. It wasn’t, but there were elements […]
My Poems ‘Ghosts’ and ‘Translucent’ Published in Love Like Salt
Love Like Salt is a poetry anthology recently published by Like This Press and edited by Amy Burne, an English student at Manchester Metropolitan University. In her call for submissions, she wrote that the aim of the collection is “to reveal the fragility of human emotions whilst exploring the inevitable routines and relationships we build today, […]
Scarf Sisters – Short Story
Last week, I participated in a launch event for arc 25, literary journal of the Israel Association of Writers in English. Around 100 people turned up–a lot more than expected!–and it was awesome to meet the faces behind the wonderful poetry and prose that appears in the journal. I had a great time! You can […]
My Poem ‘Stardust’ Published by Poetica & More News
Right, so first of all, my poem Stardust was just published in the 2017 Mizmor L’David Anthology by Poetica Publishing. You can read or download the full anthology as a PDF on the Poetica website here; Stardust appears on page 51. An excerpt: i don’t have to be the brightest thread in the carpet or the […]
My Poem “From the Graves of My Ancestors” Published in Stonecoast Review
I’m very pleased to tell you that my poem, From the Graves of My Ancestors, was published this month in the Stonecoast Review, a student-run literary journal based in Maine. The poem was inspired by a lecture by Dominique Tomasov, an activist and researcher who contacted me after stumbling across my article on antisemitism in Spain […]
The Lost Couscous Chapters (Deleted Scenes)
Today I’d like to share a few sections that didn’t make the final cut in By Light of Hidden Candles. Food and drink are an important symbol in the book, signifying both heritage and tradition (as with traditional foods mentioned and the wine Abraham provides to the conversos), and nurturing and connection (the porridge Tomás cooks […]
Hidden Candles Selected as #RBRT Award Finalist & Other Exciting News!
Greetings, my lovely friends! I have a few exciting things to tell you: #RBRT Award Nomination! By Light of Hidden Candles received positive reviews from two reviewers on Rosie’s Book Review Team (Barb Taub and Olga Núñez Miret), and it was just selected as a finalist for the RBRT Awards in the category of Romance! […]
The Real-Life Experiences that Influenced By Light of Hidden Candles
One of the questions I was asked during the FB Live session a few weeks ago was, “How much of the book is autobiographical?” Because of the time constraints, I answered broadly: “Ahhh… this is a complicated question to ask a fiction writer, because, you know… what does autobiographical mean? None of the… well, most of the […]
My Poem ‘Barco de Papel/Paper Boat’ Published in Chachalaca Review
Allow me to interrupt our program on the background of By Light of Hidden Candles to let you know that my poem, Barco de Papel/Paper Boat, was published (in its Spanish and English versions) in the Beyond issue of the Chachalaca Review, a bilingual Spanish-English literary journal published under the Center for Mexican American Studies, University of Texas […]
Genie Milgrom’s 15 Grandmothers & By Light of Hidden Candles
I first learned about Genie Milgrom from a newspaper article that told her story and detailed her amazing accomplishments in genealogy. I was floored by the article, and when I was asked to write for Pnima Magazine (a popular Hebrew magazine for Israeli religious women), I suggested an interview with Genie. The editor gave me […]
Deciphering Secrets & the Revealing Cooperation & Conflict Project
It is a blessing to be a historical fiction writer in our day and age. I took advantage of many online resources to help me with my research: I toured the streets of Granada and Madrid with Google Street View; I took a drive from Madrid to Toledo with a YouTube dash cam video (why […]
Making Sense of the Varieties of Spanish in Hidden Candles
The characters in By Light of Hidden Candles speak a few different languages. Most prominently, of course, they speak English and Spanish, with a handful of words and phrases in Hebrew, Arabic, and even Yiddish and Latin thrown in. However, several versions of Spanish are mentioned. What’s the difference between Ladino and Haketía? Castilian and Andalusian Spanish? Let’s […]
