Viveca Stucke ’26
Chief Features Editor
On March 20th, 2025, Rehm Library hosted Michelle Ephraim and Alizah Holstein, two extremely talented and successful authors to discuss their recently published memoirs. Michelle Ephraim is a Shakespeare scholar and professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute as well as a recipient of the 2023 Juniper Prize for Creative Nonfiction by the University of Massachusetts Press for her recently published memoir GREEN WORLD: A Tragicomic Memoir of Love & Shakespeare. Additionally, the event showcased Alizah Holstein’s debut memoir, My Roman History. Holstein a new author to keep an eye out for as she is an academic scholar, and holds an MFA in Creative Writing & Literary Translation from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a PhD in medieval Italian history from the prestigious Cornell University.
The talk kicked off with Michelle Ephraim captivating the audience with an excerpt from her latest memoir, Green World. The Shakespeare scholar discussed her decision to structure her book in five acts, similarly to a Shakespeare play. As a daughter to parents who survived the Holocaust, she deeply resonated with Shakespeare’s play, The Merchant of Venice, specifically the character Jessica, due to her Jewish identity. Ephraim introduces her captivating book with an excerpt from a Shakespeare recitation party she attended. The excerpt she read aloud from her memoir was full of concise and captivating language which conveyed her struggles as a grad student. She discussed how her fellow peers had Shakespeare sonnets memorized and seemed to have read every volume of classic literature. Her insecurities and pressure to succeed as a grad student are relatable to a vast range of readers, students and non-students alike. Ephraim’s current passion of Shakespeare shined through in her presentation, and although her book is a personal story of her life, the themes of belonging and self-doubt were universal.
Alizah Holstein addressed the inspiration behind her memoir, My Roman History which explores her deep unexplained affinity for Rome and what resulted in her love of Italy. She expressed that the Italian language led her to Rome, and from there she was hooked. Holstein read aloud an excerpt from her memoir, set in late 1992, when she was seventeen living in Boston with her family. The memoir begins with Holstein’s spontaneous decision to hop on the Boston trolley, go to Logan International Airport, and take a flight to Rome. In the excerpt, Holstein utilizes powerful language to express her love for Rome, and the spontaneity of her trip. Specifically, she compared the trolly to a vein leading to the beating heart. Her journey is cut short when she remembers she needs a passport before fleeing to Rome. The book follows Holstein through her journey of finding a meaningful home in Rome.
Overall, the event allowed the authors to exhibit all of their hard work and wonderful memoirs.
Featured image courtesy of College of the Holy Cross
Leave a Reply