Tickets are currently on sale for the Jewish Community Center's 25th annual Ann Katz Festival of Books & Arts, which runs from October 23 to November 13, 2023. Most events are $10 unless noted otherwise, or attendees can purchase a Festival Pass, which is good for general admission to all events, for $60." More information and tickets are at: www.jccindy.org/books-arts-festival.

Dismantling Antisemitism is Monday, October 23 at 7 p.m. This event is in-person at the JCC where a former neo-Nazi and a second-generation Holocaust survivor engage in conversation. Tickets are $10.

Chasten Buttigieg appears on Tuesday, October 24 at 6:30 p.m. in-person at Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation (6501 N. Meridian St.) Admission is free, but registration is required. Hear from the LGBTQ+ activist, husband of U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and author of memoir I Have Something to Tell You.

Jonathan Ornstein, CEO of JCC Krakow will be in-person at the JCC on Wednesday, October 25 at 7 p.m. (Tickets are $10) JCC Krakow is devoted to rebuilding Jewish life in the city and has become one of Poland's most visible signs of Jewish revival. While it continues to provide cultural programming, education for all ages and social activities, it has also served as a resettlement center for Ukrainian refugees since the war's beginning.

Jonathan Eig, author of King: A Life, will be in-person at the JCC Thursday, October 26 at 7 p.m. (Tickets are $10) Eig is the bestselling author of six books, including his most recent King: A Life, which The New York Times hailed as a "monumental" new biography of Martin Luther King Jr., Barack Obama included on his 2023 summer reading list, and Sharon McMahon (@sharonsaysso on Instagram, "America's Government Teacher" with 1 million followers) recommended on her own and in Maria Shriver's Sunday Paper digital platform as "meticulously researched with lots of new insight from people who personally knew King and understand his legacy." Eig's previous book, Ali: A Life (which he spoke about at the 2017 Ann Katz Festival) was named by Esquire magazine as one of the 25 greatest biographies of all time. Joyce Carol Oates called Ali "an epic of a biography" and Ken Burns called Eig a "master storyteller." His books have been listed among the best of the year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. Eig has appeared on the Today Show, NPR's Fresh Air, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He will interviewed by Dr. Erica Buchanan-Rivera, social justice educator.

Pianist Yonathan Avishai will be in-person at the JCC on Saturday, October 29 at 8 p.m. (Tickets are $15). Avishai is an Israeli-born, France-based pianist and sophisticated performer known for his introspective, harmonically nuanced approach to modern creative jazz.

Daisy Alpert Florin, author of My Last Innocent Year, appears in-person at the JCC on Monday, October 30 at 7 p.m. (Tickets only at $10 - ticket and a book are $28). This year's Community Reads selection, My Last Innocent Year is a coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the Clinton and Lewinsky scandal about a young woman on the brink of sexual and artistic awakening, navigating her way toward independence. The book reckons with the complexities of consent, what it means to be an adult, and whether or not we can ever outrun our bad decisions. My Last Innocent Year is the author's first novel. Accolades for My Last Innocent Year include: New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, Washington Post Staff Pick, USA Today Must-Read Book, Entertainment Weekly and Town & Country Must-Read Book of Winter.

Martin Fletcher, author of Teachers: The Ones I Can't Forget appears in-person at the JCC on Wednesday, November 1 at 7 p.m. (Tickets are $10). Considered for decades the "gold standard of TV war correspondents" by Anderson Cooper, Martin Fletcher was an NBC News Correspondent and bureau chief in Tel Aviv for nearly 30 years. Teachers are the people Fletcher sought out in his international reporting, detailing their woes while celebrating their will to survive and recover. As Tom Brokaw wrote, "Fletcher has a calling." He has won five Emmys and a Columbia University DuPont Award - a Pulitzer for work in television - as well as awards from the Over-seas Press Club and Royal Society of Television.

"25 Years of the Ann Katz Festival" Retrospective art gallery reception is Thursday, November 2 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in-person at the JCC. Admission I free. Attendees can walk down memory lane with artists that have shown at past Ann Katz Festivals. Stick around for the Heartland Shorts film screenings!

Heartland Film Award-Winning Shorts is scheduled for Thursday, November 2 at 8 p.m. in-person at the JCC. (Tickets are $10) This partnership with Heartland Film is a perennial favorite. Exact film selections TBA. Come early for the "25 Years of the Ann Katz Festival" retrospective art gallery reception!

Natasha Lance Rogoff, author of Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia appears in-person at the JCC on Saturday, November 4 at 8 p.m. (Tickets are $10) After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the timing appeared perfect to bring Sesame Street to millions of children living in the former Soviet Union. With the Muppets envisioned as ideal ambassadors of Western idealistic values, no one anticipated just how challenging and dangerous this would prove to be. Muppets in Moscow illuminates how cultural clashes imbued nearly every aspect of the production, from the show's educational framework to scriptwriting to the new Russian Muppets themselves, often pitting Sesame Street's Western values against nearly four centuries of Russian thought. In spite of the challenges, the show went on to become a major hit, airing for over a decade. The book explores post-Soviet societal tensions that continue to thwart the Russian people's efforts to create a better future for their country. More than just a story of a children's show, it provides a valuable perspective about Russia's people, their culture, and their complicated relationship with the West that remains more relevant than ever today. Ms. Rogoff, a young American TV producer fluent in Russian, was chosen to lead a crew of hundreds of American and Russian artists, producers, educators, writers, and puppeteers to create the Russian adaptation of Sesame Street. Against the backdrop of bombings and the assassination of her Russian broadcast partners, Lance Rogoff and the team remained determined to bring laughter, learning, and a new way of seeing the world to children in Russia and across the former Soviet empire.

Anne Frank's Tree chamber quarter preview performance will be in-person at the JCC on Wednesday, November 8 at 7 p.m. (Tickets are $10) On the eve of Kristallnacht, hear a preview of new orchestral piece Anne Frank's Tree, composed by Victoria Bond and performed by a quartet from the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra (full version to premiere in January 2024). Saplings from the chestnut tree in front of Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam were planted all over the world, including by the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Through a musical meditation on Anne's tree as a symbol of hope, Bond connects audiences to that sapling.

Benji Lovitt, author of Israel 201: Your Next-Level Guide to the Magic, Mystery and Chaos of Life in the Holy Land, will be in-person at the JCC on Thursday, November 9 at 7 p.m. (Tickets are $10) He immigrated to Israel in 2006 and has performed stand-up comedy (including opening for Jim Gaffigan) and delivered cultural presentations about Israel for audiences in North America, Israel, Europe, South Africa, and Australia and has been featured in Time Magazine and The Atlantic. In Israel 201, Lovitt and his co-author Joel Chasnoff pull back the curtain to unveil a more complete and comprehensive portrait of Israel that extends beyond the headlines and typical Israel narrative.

The Big Lebowski 25th anniversary interactive screening will be at the JCC on Saturday, November 11 at 8 p.m. (Tickets are $15) Celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Ann Katz Festival and cult classic film The Big Lebowski! Dress up and enjoy a palooza-style event complete with White Russians, bowling, and more!

Spirit & Place "Public Conversation" featuring Michael Twitty will be in-person at the Amp at 16 Tech, located at 1220 Waterway Boulevard. (Admission is free) on Sunday, November 12 at 4:30 p.m. An acclaimed Black Jewish food writer and culinary historian Twitty is the author of The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South and Koshersoul: The Faith & Food Journey of an African American Jew, joins Indianapolis food scene leaders Candace Boyd and former MasterChef contestant Tanorria Askew for a live recording of their podcast Black Girls Eating. This is the closing event of the Spirit & Place Festival, in celebration of its NOURISH theme. He has appeared on Bizarre Foods America with Andrew Zimmern and Many Rivers to Cross with Dr. Henry Louis Gates. His book The Cooking Gene won the 2018 James Beard Award for best writing and book of the year, making him the first Black author so awarded, and Koshersoul was named the 2022 Jewish book of the year. Southern Living named him one of "Fifty People Changing the South," The website, www.TheRoot.com added him to their 100 most influential African Americans under 45, The Forward named him one of the most influential American Jews, and Bon Appetit included his work in their compilation of 2019's best food writing.

B.A. Shapiro, author of Metropolis, appears in-person at the JCC on Monday, November 13 at 7 p.m. (Tickets are $10) This masterful novel of psychological suspense from the New York Times bestselling author of The Art Forger follows a cast of unforgettable characters whose lives intersect when a harrowing accident occurs at the Metropolis Storage Warehouse.

The JCC's website, www.jccindy.org/books-arts-festival describes the annual event: "The Ann Katz Festival of Books and Arts is made possible with funding from the Irwin and Ann Katz Cultural Arts and Education Endowment Fund. Irwin "Irv" Katz was devoted to the JCC for more than 70 years, serving as president of the JCC board of directors at its old location from 1950-52 and again from 1958-61 during a pivotal time: its move and construction at its current location. The resulting 24,000-square-foot facility boasted meeting rooms, nursery school facilities, a gym, locker rooms, and outdoor space for summer camp. The annual Ann Katz Festival of Books and Arts was transformed from a one-week book fair to a major cultural arts program in Indianapolis when, in the year 2000, Katz infused the festival with a significant annual contribution. At that time, the festival name was changed to honor the memory of his wife, Ann, an inveterate reader and lover of books and literature."