The Taubman Symposia invites you to an in-person, live presentation by Elana K. Arnold, winner of the National Jewish Book Award and of the Sydney Taylor Award, as she discusses the writing and publication of The Blood Years (2023)—a harrowing story of a young girl’s struggle to survive the Holocaust. Based on the true experiences of her grandmother’s childhood in Holocaust-era Romania, The Blood Years weaves an unforgettable tale of love and loss in the darkest days of the twentieth century—and of one young woman’s will to survive them. Named a best book of the year by, among other publications, the Boston Globe, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, American Library Association’s Booklist, and the Horn Book, The Blood Years is the culmination of years of careful research and painstaking revision. How does one bear witness to a story of the past? How does a writer weave together her inheritance of small, personal stories from a beloved grandmother and the vast horror of history? Arnold will explore the responsibility and honor of telling this story, as well as illuminate her research and creative process.

 

Arnold is affiliated faculty in the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota.