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From Our Springtime
Literary Memoirs and Portraits of Yiddish New York
Reuben Iceland
Translated by Gerald Marcus
Cloth $29.95s
| 978-0-8156-3303-7
| 2012
"Marcus’s translation is a critical contribution to our appreciation of New York as a global, multilingual literary center in the first decades of the twentieth century, and of ways in which Yiddish writers contributed to the multicultural expansion of American letters."—Justin Cammy, Smith College
"Gerald Marcus has done us a great favor in his fine translation
of Reuben Iceland, a most important figure in the
American Yiddish literary world for decades."—Jules Chametzky, coeditor of Jewish American Literature: A Norton Anthology
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Reuben Iceland (1884–1955) was a Yiddish poet and translator. He contributed
to Shriftn, and to other anthologies of poetry and prose, and was the author of
several poetry collections, including Fun Mayn Zumer. He translated works of German,
English, and Chinese authors, most notably the prose and poetry of Heinrich
Heine. Gerald Marcus is a painter and printmaker who grew up surrounded by
Yiddish-speaking relatives and friends. He has been a student and an avid reader
of Yiddish literature for over twenty years.
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In New York in 1907, a group of avant-garde Yiddish poets came together
to transform Yiddish literature. Seeking a pure artistic expression, they would
rid Yiddish poetry of foreign influences and overbearing political and
religious rhetoric. While influenced by their Eastern European heritage, these
poets were nonetheless uniquely American in their focus on the exploration of
the individual. Calling themselves di Yunge (the Young Ones), this group was
led in part by Reuben Iceland. From Our Springtime is Iceland’s memoir as
well as a reflection on the lives of the di Yunge poets. With its vivid characters,
beautifully crafted descriptions, snippets of poetry, and clear analysis
of the poems, this book is a work of art in its own right, and an essential
resource for anyone interested in Yiddish American poetry.
Translated into English for the first time, From Our Springtime brings
this period in New York literary history to life and tells the story of how
these poets transformed Yiddish poetry from an expression of workingclass
struggles to a form of Yiddish high art.
View other series books on Judaic Traditions in Literature, Music, and Art
6 x 9, 230 pages, 12 black-and-white illustrations,
notes, glossary, index
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