LimmudVan ’14 at the JCC

Celia Dropkin (1887-1956) defied convention, writing passion, erotic life, shame, and bodily anguish into her poetry. Her poems broke new ground and divided her readers; male critics tended to infantalize her, but nobody could deny the magnetic pull of her poetic vision. As co-translator of the first English-language book of Dropkin's poetry, I will discuss the problems associated with translating this kind of poetry, not only from Yiddish into English but also across time, working the material into a register suitable for audiences a century after Dropkin wrote it. Its very passion creates linguistic uncertainty. Warning: this presentation will contain sexually explicit language and imagery.