(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)February 13, 2015

MAHWAH, NJ – Author and poet Victoria Redel will discuss her recent book, The Border of Truth on March 10 at 1 p.m. at Ramapo College in the Alumni Lounge (SC137-138). The Gross Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies is a sponsor of the event. It is free and open to the public.

Like so many children of survivors and refugees, Redel grew up in the shadows of her parents’ different escapes from war. Although certainly not her father’s story, The Border of Truth parallels his journey from the bombed city of Brussels through France and Spain and Portugal.

The Border of Truth starts with a single professor, Sara Leader, deciding to create a family by adoption. After the adoption agency asks for details about her background, Sara reluctantly probes her father’s secret history. This includes his flight as a 17-year-old Holocaust refugee aboard a ship denied entry into America. The more she learns about her father’s past, the more Sara feels the need to question him about what happened. She realizes how her father’s secrets have shaped her own life. Alternating between a teenage boy’s energetic letters to Eleanor Roosevelt and a daughter’s sifting through the fragments of her father’s traumatic wartime choices, Redel’s characters demonstrate bravery, strength and the humor to survive the pain of the past and the uncertainty of what lies ahead.

Born in New York of Belgian, Rumanian, Egyptian, Russian and Polish descent, Redel is the author of three books of poetry and four books of fiction. Her most recent work is a collection of stories, Make Me Do Things. Her book, Loverboy, received the 2001 S. Mariella Gable Novel Award, the 2002 Forward Silver Literary Fiction Prize and was selected as a Los Angeles Times Best Book. Loverboy was adapted for a feature film directed by Kevin Bacon. Her fiction, poetry and essays have appeared in numerous magazines and journals including Granta.com. The Harvard Review, The Quarterly, The Literarian, The New York Times, The L.A. Times, O the Oprah Magazine, Elle, Bomb, More and NOON.

Redel is on the faculty of Sarah Lawrence College and has taught at Columbia University, Vermont College, Davidson College and the New School. She has received fellowships from The Guggenheim Foundation, The National Endowment for The Arts and the Fine Arts Work Center. She attended Dartmouth College (B.A.) and Columbia University (M.F.A.).

Victoria Redel appeared at Ramapo with memoirist and poet Paisley Rekdal at a reading of their poetry in November 2014.

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About Ramapo College

Ramapo College of New Jersey is the state’s premier public liberal arts college and is committed to academic excellence through interdisciplinary and experiential learning, and international and intercultural understanding. The comprehensive college is situated among the beautiful Ramapo Mountains, is within commuting distance to New York City, was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America by CondeNast Traveler, and boasts the best on-campus housing in New Jersey per Niche.com. Established in 1969, Ramapo College offers bachelor’s degrees in the arts, business, data science, humanities, social sciences and the sciences, as well as in professional studies, which include business, education, nursing and social work. In addition, the College offers courses leading to teacher certification at the elementary and secondary levels, and offers graduate programs leading to master’s degrees in Accounting, Applied Mathematics, Business Administration, Contemporary Instructional Design, Computer Science, Creative Music Technology, Data Science, Educational Leadership, Nursing, Social Work and Special Education, as well as a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

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