Release

Author Elizabeth Rosner Tours Capital Region

Contact: Catherine Herman (518) 956-8150

ALBANY, N.Y. (October 13, 2006) -- The University at Albany Center for Jewish Studies is organizing an October 2006 lecture tour by Elizabeth Rosner, award-winning, best-selling author of Blue Nude (Ballantine Books, 2006) and The Speed of Light (Ballantine Books, 2001). Rosner will deliver several presentations in the Capital Region:

Tuesday, October 24, 7 p.m.
"Healing the Wounds of History: One Writer's Journey"
Union College, Reamer College Center Auditorium
A reception, with opportunity for book signings, will follow the lecture in Hale House
Free & open to public
Contact info: [email protected], (518) 388-6539

Thursday, October 26, 7 p.m.
"The Art of Reconciliation: Elizabeth Rosner discusses her novel BLUE NUDE"
University at Albany, Campus Center Assembly Hall
Book signing to follow presentation, light kosher refreshments
Free & open to public
Contact info: [email protected], (518) 591-8514

Friday, October 27
"Creative Writing in the Post-Holocaust Era: Elizabeth Rosner Discusses Her Work"
Congregation Beth Israel
2195 Eastern Parkway, Schenectady
Sabbath services at 6:30 p.m. followed by dinner.
Ms. Rosner will speak at dinner.
Community is invited.
Paid reservations due in synagogue office by Friday, October 22nd.
Contact info: [email protected]. (518) 377-3700

Blue Nude is an engrossing story of an artist and a model who must both overcome the past in order to create a future. Born in the shadow of post-war Germany, Danzig is a once-prominent painter who now teaches at an art institute in San Francisco. But while Danzig shares wisdom and technique with students, his own canvasses remain empty, for reasons he doesn't understand. One day, he and his class begin sketching a new model, a young woman named Merav, the Israeli-born granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor and herself a former art student. Danzig is immediately taken with her exceptional beauty, sensing that she may be the muse he has been missing. Challenged by Danzig's German accent, Merav must decide how to overcome her fears. Before they can create anything new together, both artist and model are forced to examine the history that they carry.

Blue Nude recounts the events that bring Danzig and Merav together, including their disparate upbringings, their respective creative awakenings, and their similarly painful, often catastrophic, love lives. Using words to paint the landscapes of body and soul, Rosner conveys the art of survival, the complexity of history, the form of exile, the shape of desire, and the color of intimacy. Blue Nude is the narrative equivalent of a masterpiece of fine art.

Elizabeth Rosner grew up in Schenectady, New York and is the daughter of Jewish Holocaust survivors. As is evident in both her poetry and fiction, much of her writing reflects her efforts to come to terms with the impact of her parents' experiences on her own life, the indelible imprints of their history on her language, her identity, and her imagination.

Now living in Berkeley, California, Elizabeth is a full-time writer, and was an instructor of creative writing and composition at the college level for twenty years. She is a graduate of Stanford University, the MFA Program at U.C. Irvine, and the University of Queensland in Australia. She has traveled extensively throughout the world, including long-term stays in the Philippines, Israel, Australia, Sweden, and Mexico. For more information about Ms. Rosner and her work, please visit Elizabeth Rosner. For further information, contact the UAlbany Center for Jewish Studies at (518) 591-8514 or [email protected].