I was so excited to learn that Kantika had been selected as this year’s book for San Francisco’s Jewish Community Library’s “One Bay One Book 2023 program,” and even more excited when I saw the line-up of virtual lectures the program has organized around the themes of the book. Running from November through late Spring (when I’ll give a virtual talk as part of the series, date still tbd), the talks range in topic from Sephardic music, to Jewish Cuba, to Jewish life in medieval Spain, Ladino, immigration to the US, and more. On December 3rd there will be an in-person discussion at the Jewish Community Library of Anne Berest’s beautiful novel The Postcard, which has some echoes with Kantika in how it’s a novel inspired by a real family story and explores Jewish history—in Berest’s case, the Holocaust—through the intimate lens of the author’s family’s experience. Some of the people giving the lectures helped me with my research as I was writing Kantika. I still have much to learn and remain fascinated by the topics so plan to attend as many events as I can. You can find the events and registration links here and read an article about Kantika having been chosen by the program here.