FINDING HOME
HUNGARY 1945
Dean Cycon's debut novel explores the search for home, community and family where they no longer exist. An emotionally gripping, accessible tale illuminating a little-known piece of the Jewish post-war experience. "The war is over, but hatred has not surrendered."
Dean Cycon's debut novel, "Finding Home" was published in 2023 and delves into the seldom- explored story of Jewish life after the Holocaust. As the six surviving Jews of Laszlo, Hungary return home, they seek to restart their lives in the face of their former neighbors and friends resisting relinquishing their newfound status and property while struggling with their roles as perpetrators, enablers, and bystanders. Their loved ones were all murdered and their spirits and bodies were brutalized in Auschwitz. Still, they retain the hope of recapturing a semblance of normalcy in the town they called home—only to discover that everything they once possessed has been taken from them in their absence.
"Historically and dramatically compelling, Cycon's multi-layered narrative unspools the under- reported story of endemic post-war antisemitism... A haunting, emotionally challenging read, with frightening contemporary relevance." — Kirkus Reviews
DEAN & POP-UP KLEZMER
ABOUT THE PROJECT
01
THE PROGRAM
"Finding Home" Reading Tour is a literary and performance experience featuring author Dean Cycon and Jewish music practitioners Bea Carlson (accordion/vocals) and Jason Ditzian (clarinet).
This hour-long engagement takes audiences on a journey through several passages of "Finding Home", read by Cycon and scored with live Klezmer and Hungarian folk music by Carlson and Ditzian. The performance is followed by a discussion session.
03
THE AUTHOR
Dean Cycon (he/him) is an author, lawyer, human rights advocate, and social entrepreneur who has lived and worked in over sixty countries. A passionate explorer of culture and history, Dean seeks out unexamined corners that illuminate the human condition. He has previously published Javatrekker: Dispatches from the World of Fair Trade Coffee, which was awarded the Gold Medal for Best Travel Essay by the Independent Publishers Association and has been translated into Chinese, Korean, and Spanish. Finding Home (Hungary, 1945) is his first novel.
Dean lives in Western Massachusetts, USA. Dean has been a host/presenter on two PBS specials, "Coffee-The Drink that Changed America" and "Traveling in the 1907's". Dean Cycon founded Dean's Beans Organic Coffee Company in 1993 after working as an environmental and indigenous rights lawyer. He set out to prove that a for-profit business could create meaningful change through ethical business practices rooted in respect for the earth, the farmer, our co-workers and the consumer.
02
AUDIENCE
When Dean set out on a five-year journey of research to write "Finding Home", he had no idea how timely and resonant the book would be today in this moment of rising fascism, antisemitism and violence against Jews. The themes of "Finding Home" have never been more timely than in this moment.
The three collaborators on this project are aiming to create an immersive experience transporting audiences back to 1945 Hungary and connecting these threads of history to our current moment. 100% of the royalties of "Finding Home" book sales are donated to charities supporting low-income elderly Holocaust survivors.
04
THE BAND
Bea Maxwell Carlson (they/them) is a Western-Mass musician, composer/arranger, writer, linguist, media enthusiast, and curator/managing editor for Klezmer.com. Bea studied linguistics at University of New Hampshire with a focus on languages in contact and diasporic languages including Yiddish and Romani as an expansion of their musical interests.
Jason Ditzian (he/him) is a wind instrumentalist who has composed and performed numerous works for dance, movie and theater. He is clarinetist/leader of California-based klezmer ensemble, Kugelplex and Western Massachusetts-based klezmer ensemble, Myrtle Street Klezmer. Jason has performed, recorded and toured internationally with artists such as Charming Hostess, Oakland Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Dohee Lee, Joan Baez, Frank London, inkBoat, Kitka, San Francisco Mime Troupe and many others. Jason founded nonprofit arts consulting firm, Narluga Arts in 2019 to further the field of socially-engaged nonprofit arts.
TOUR DATES
-
02/05 - Amherst Women’s Club, Amherst MA
-
02/21 - Montague Public Library, Montague MA (6pm)
-
03/06 - Broadside Books, Northampton MA (7pm)
-
03/28 - Odyssey Bookstore, South Hadley MA (7pm)
-
05/01 - Springfield JCC, Springfield MA (7pm)
-
05/02 - Temple Beth Zion, Brookline MA (7pm)
-
05/05 - Jewish Community of Amherst, Amherst MA
-
09/19 - New Salem Library, New Salem MA
-
11/07 - Wendell Public Library , Wendell MA (6:30pm)
Pop-Up Klezmer
