JTS’s SPOILER: The Unpredictable Storytelling Festival is a signature part of our MFA in Creative Writing program. Over a series of evenings, a lineup of world-renowned authors, including the MFA faculty, take the stage to inspire audiences. Witty banter and amusing tangents abound during this celebration of Jewish storytelling. Since it’s the UNPREDICTABLE Storytelling Festival, who knows what will happen at the next one?
The inaugural festival took place September 7, 8, and 10, 2025. Over three unforgettable sold-out evenings, audiences enjoyed lively conversations between expert storytellers that spanned subjects as diverse as time-travel, editing, balancing professional and personal lives, and familial experiences during the Holocaust. The event also included book signings, where audience members met storytellers face-to-face. The lineup featured MFA storytellers Etgar Keret (MFA Director), Jonathan Safran Foer (Founding Creative Advisor), Jodi Kantor, Shalom Auslander, Alex Edelman, and Deborah Treisman (all creative advisors).
Details about the next festival will be announced at a later date.
Press for SPOILER
9.14.2025 – Jewish Telegraphic Agency – “Alex Edelman and fans of ‘Long Story Short’ may disagree, but a new book says Jewish humor is dying“
Previous SPOILER Events
