From Our Springtime: Literary Memoirs and Portraits of Yiddish New York

by Reuben Iceland, Gerald Marcus (Translator)

Overview

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. Although influenced by their Eastern European heritage, these poets were uniquely American in their focus on exploring 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, and snippets of poetry, 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 working-class struggles to a form of Yiddish high art.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815633037
Publisher:	Syracuse University Press
Publication date:	11/15/2012
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

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.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction xiii

Foreword Reuben Iceland xxv

With Zishe Landau 1

Twenty-Five Years Later 30

With Mani Leyb 60

Moyshe Leyb Halpern 202

David Ignatoff 108

I. J. Schwartz 114

Anna Margolin 122

I. Kisin 165

Herman Gold 168

A Home for Yiddish Writers 172

Goodman and Levine's Restaurant 177

Sixty Days with Abraham Liessin 184

Afterword Ken Frieden 206

Guide to Pronunciation 217

Biographies 219

Glossary 229

Index 233

Editorial Reviews

"Reuben Iceland was one of the leaders of Die Yunge, a literary movement that was centered in New York at the turn of the twentieth century. Die Yunge wanted to purify Yiddish and make it a literary language with a stature equal to that of other western languages....Gerald Marcus gives the reader a clear, compelling translation of a passionate man surrounded by talents perhaps greater than his, who treated all his fellow poets like family....This memoir is significant source for research on Yiddish literature in America."

Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews

Gerald Marcus gives the reader a clear, compelling translation of a passionate man. . . .This memoir is a significant source for research on Yiddish literature in America. Highly recommended for collections focused on Yiddish.-- "AJL News and Reviews"

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"

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, coeditor of Arguing the Modern Jewish Canon: Essays on Literature and Culture in Honor of Ruth R. Wisse"

From the Publisher

Gerald Marcus gives the reader a clear, compelling translation of a passionate man. . . .This memoir is a significant source for research on Yiddish literature in America. Highly recommended for collections focused on Yiddish.

AJL News and Reviews

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.

coeditor of Arguing the Modern Jewish Canon: E Justin Cammy

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.

coeditor of Jewish American Literature: A Nort Jules Chametzky