The Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Mass. will host its spring Community Open House on Sunday, May 1, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The free daylong celebration features a talk by literary critic and poet Adam Kirsch about the definition of “Jewish literature,” as well as short films about Yiddish writers, exhibits, and tours.

At 11 a.m. Christa Whitney, director of the Yiddish Book Center’s Wexler Oral History Project, will screen and discuss two short films made by the project: Ida Maze: The “Den Mother” of Yiddish Montreal and Alter Esselin: Craftsman of Wood and Words. The films are part of the project’s “Beyond the Books” series of oral history interviews about Yiddish literary figures and their descendants.

At 2 p.m. Adam Kirsch, author of Emblems of the Passing World: Poems after Photographs by August Sander, will discuss “Is There Such a Thing as Jewish Literature?” Kirsch is director of the Master’s program in Jewish studies at Columbia University.

Visitors may also explore the Center’s visiting exhibit “A Town Known as Auschwitz: The Life and Death of a Jewish Community.” Guided tours of the Center will be offered at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

All events are free. For information visit yiddishbookcenter.org.