SPRINGFIELD, NJ — Join us at the Springfield Free Public Library on Thursday, April 4, at 7 p.m., when New Jersey author Michelle Cameron speaks about and does a reading from her latest book, “Babylon: A Novel of Jewish Captivity.” Cameron’s book recounts the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar’s army and the subsequent forced exile of many of the city’s residents to Babylon, where they are forced into servitude and a radically different way of life. Cameron recounts the story of people whose names we recognize from the Bible, but putting their stories in the context of their day to day experiences, often in ways that are both unexpected and unsettling. The depth of Cameron’s research into this particular place and time provides a startling contrast to what we might think we already know about this historical era
Cameron is a director of The Writers Circle, a New Jersey-based organization that offers creative writing programs to children, teens and adults, and she is the author of works of historical fiction and poetry: “Beyond the Ghetto Gates,” She Writes Press, 2020; “The Fruit of Her Hands: The Story of Shira of Ashkenaz,” Pocket, 2009; and “In the Shadow of the Globe,” Lit Pot Press, 2003. She lived in Israel for 15 years — including three weeks in a bomb shelter during the Yom Kippur War — and served as an officer in the Israeli army, teaching air force cadets technical English. Cameron lives in New Jersey with her husband and has two grown sons of whom she is inordinately proud. Visit her website for more information at https://michelle-cameron.com.