AMHERST, Masssachusetts – The Yiddish Book Center is accepting applications for its 2018 Great Jewish Books Summer Program. Due to the popularity of the program in past years, the Center will offer two sessions this year: July 22-27 and July 29-August 3.

Now in its seventh year, the Great Jewish Books Summer Program brings together rising high school juniors and seniors from across the country, to read, discuss, argue about, and fall in love with modern Jewish literature. Students read selections from important works of modern Jewish literature and consider how they speak to the opportunities and challenges we face today. Under the guidance of college professors, they consider how the rich legacy of modern Jewish literature can inform us in the 21st century. Although the program’s focus is on reading, the program also includes social, cultural, and recreational opportunities—and no grades—for students who read for the love of reading and who are eager to discover the treasures of the Jewish canon.

During the five-day program, participants read and discuss important works of modern literature by writers such as Franz Kafka, Sholem Aleichem, Grace Paley, Philip Roth, and Isaac Babel. The program is taught by college faculty as well as prominent visiting writers (including, in past years, novelist Allegra Goodman, poet Adam Kirsch, and graphic novelist Ilan Stavans). The program provides participants with the chance to develop skills for literary analysis and self-expression that will prepare them for college.

Students at Great Jewish Books come from a wide variety of backgrounds, Jewish affiliations, and experiences. Anyone who has an interest in Jewish literature and culture is welcome to apply. Every admitted participant receives a scholarship for the full cost of tuition, room, board, books, and special events.

Applications for the 2018 Great Jewish Books Summer Program are due by March 5. For more information, visit yiddishbookcenter.org/great-jewish-books.