Event

The Fifth Paragraph

Join us for The Fifth Paragraph* ( ) on June 24th!

This first-of-its-kind event combines readings of original short stories written by Soviet and post-Soviet émigrés, with a multimedia reading performance and live music by Olia Toporovsky and Abraham Gomez Delgado.

The Fifth Paragraph project is supported by the COJECO BluePrint Fellowship and was designed to explore the creative and literary potential of Russian-speaking immigrants and their children in our communities. What originated as a series of experimental workshops for mining and writing stories before and after immigration, evolved into a process of soul-searching and emotional healing. As we found themes in our stories that were both common and unique, we uncovered deep understandings and insights that had been swept under the rug for the sake of survival in this strange new American land.

At these culminating performances, our remarkable stories will be shared publicly for the first time and we are sure they will resonate powerfully with anyone who knows, or wants to know, what it is to be an immigrant.

*The infamous Fifth Paragraph was a line for nationality in Soviet passports that reinforced discrimination against minorities.

This project was created as part of COJECO BluePrint Fellowship supported by COJECO and Genesis Philanthropy Group. The July 17 performance at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan is in partnership with Generation R, which is supported by The Jewish Education Project with generous funding from the Genesis Philanthropy Group.