POETRY READING AND BOOK TALK: TKHINES BY EVE BERNFELD AND NAMING LAKE ESTHER BY NIKKI SCHULAK

Thursday, June 18, 2026 from 6:00 p.m -7:00 p.m.

Authors Event! Poetry Reading and Book Talk: Tkhines by Eve Bernfeld and Naming Lake Esther by Nikki Schulak – come hear from two Jewish authors reading their works, Tkhines (Women’s Poetry) by Eve Bernfeld and “A Long Time Ago in Toledo, Ohio,” excerpted from Naming Lake Esther, a book by Nikki Schulak detailing the life events of her mother. Both artists have work featured in the Jew& exhibit, and their work can be viewed alongside the reading. Copies of Tkhines, a poetry chapbook will be available for purchase during the event.

Eve Bernfeld

Eve Bernfeld’s poetry chapbook tkhines occupies the intersection of poem, prayer and spell. The ordinary exhaustion of parenthood—slicing onions for family dinners, waking at 3 am for nightmares and nosebleeds, packing snacks for baseball games—gives rise to an altered state of consciousness, threaded through with magic, fairy tales and bursts of joy from the natural world. Eve will provide background on the nearly-lost practice of tkhines—Ashkenazi women’s prayers—and how she came to write (her own version of) them, in addition to reading/performing poetry from her new collection.

About Eve Bernfeld

Eve Bernfeld is a writer, theatre artist, teacher and mother living in Portland, Oregon. Her interests squat at the crossroads of fairy tale, folk magic, Jewish culture, the natural world, gender and care work. She holds an MFA in Applied Theatre from Emerson College. Her poetry chapbook tkhines, created during her time as an Art/Lab PDX Fellow, was recently published by Bottlecap Press. Her writing has appeared in Cathexis NW Press, Howlround Theatre Commons, AmSAT Journal, Northern Lights and, forthcoming, CALYX Journal and Literary Mama. Her plays have been produced by Riot Act and Chapel Theatre Company. She also teaches the Alexander Technique privately and at the University of Portland. www.evebernfeld.com

Nikki Schulak

Naming Lake Esther Statement: This piece, “A Long Time Ago in Toledo, Ohio” is excerpted from a larger work about my mother, who died nearly 30 years ago. The larger work about my mother is “Naming Lake Esther,” and is a collection of micro-writings (accompanied by photos and documents) about the process of applying to the United States Board on Geographic Names – Domestic Names Committee (USBGN-DNC) in order to formerly name an unnamed body of water on the farm where I grew up (in West Bloomfield, Michigan) to commemorate my mother. I want to get Esther Salzman’s name on the map both figuratively and literally. I have written plenty about my father – he was a clever, artful man, and a meshuga, but I have written very little about my mother. This project is an opportunity for me to delve into my mother’s life story and try to better understand her desires, her dreams, her sorrows, and her regrets. If only I could talk to her in person! — about raising children, her thoughts on marriage, family relationships, God, art, and animals. Everyone understood that Esther was a Bubbe of the Highest Order, and a mensch. Less understood (by me, as a child) was that she had a dry and subtle sense of humor; I especially want to reflect on and honor her wit. I do believe that someday/somehow my mother and I will be able to meet on the shores of Lake Esther to kibitz and commune.

About Nikki Schulak

Nikki Schulak is a writer whose Jewishness often shows up in her stories. Perennial topics in her work include: her childhood, her marriage, her medications, her body, her family, her animals, and musings about death. Her essay, “On Not Seeing Whales” (Bellevue Literary Review) was chosen as a Notable Selection in Best American Essays 2013. She had a fellowship at the Portland Art/Lab in 2023-24. She has a BA from Sarah Lawrence College, and a Master’s degree from Bank Street College. She once pulled pythons out of pillowcases in the name of environmental education. Today she is a preschool teacher whose best friend is a Bearded Dragon named Stripey. Sometimes, she is a little bit of an unreliable narrator. Some of her thoughts can be found here: https://nschulak.substack.com/