Description

From 1967, which marked the publication of her first book of poems, until her death in 1984, the modest and soft-spoken woman known to her Hebrew readers simply as Zelda received an extraordinary amount of public attention. Her six books of verse were honored by Israel’s most prestigious literary awards and have remained bestsellers beyond the poet’s lifetime. Marcia Falk, a well-known poet in her own right, was a good friend of Zelda’s and a frequent visitor to her Jerusalem home. Fulfilling a promise she made long ago to her friend, Falk presents here the first major compilation of Zelda’s poetry in English translation.

A devoutly religious Jew descended from the line of prominent Hasidic rabbis, Zelda Schneaurson Mishkovsky inhabited the world of ultra-Orthodoxy her entire life. Her utterly unique poetry, which draws abundantly from classical Jewish texts, portrays at the same time a world of personal mystical imagery—the “strange plant,” “enchanted bird,” “black rose,” “golden butterfly.” Marcia Falk’s sensitive translations, lucid introduction, and comprehensive notes to the poems reveal the power of Zelda’s poetry to create out of primitive inner experience strikingly original pictures that reach beyond the borders of tradition to redeem pain and celebrate life.

Published by Hebrew Union College Press

Author(s)

Zelda Schneurson Mishkovsky--known to her Hebrew readers as Zelda--was born in Russia in 1914 and immigrated to Palestine in 1926. An Orthodox Jew descended from a line of prominent Hasidic rabbis, she emerged from the world of her fathers and mothers to become a best-selling author beloved by the diverse Israeli readership. Her six books garnered numerous literary awards, including the prestigious Bialik and Brenner Prizes. She died in Jerusalem in 1984.



Marcia Falk is the author of a groundbreaking Hebrew and English prayer book, The Book of Blessings; a widely acclaimed translatian of The Song of Songs; and other books of poetry and translations. Her translation of the Yiddish poetry of Malka Heifetz Tussman, With Teeth in the Earth is published by Wayne State University Press.

Reviews

“Marcia Falk’s sympathetic and insightful book of translations is the first major compilation in English of one of Israel’s most beloved writers.”

— Jewish Currents

“Once in a rare while a translation comes along that lets the light of the original shine through. Such is The Spectacular Difference, Marcia Falk’s exemplary and long-awaited translation of the Hebrew poet Zelda.”

— Detroit Free Press

"Spare, beautiful, potent and structurally untraditional language elicits indelible images and feelings. This is a rich collection to be savored again and again."

— Jewish Book World

“Marcia Falk’s translation and introduction impressively and precisely present Zelda’s marvelous talent to the English readers.”

— Gershon Shaked, Professor Emeritus of Hebrew Literature, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

“In these brilliant translations of Zelda’s poems, Marcia Falk brings us another book of blessings.”

— Lynne Knight, author of The Book of Common Betrayals and Snow Effects

“Marcia Falk’s translation of Zelda’s poems is delightful. It preserves Zelda’s melodies, idioms, and colors, allowing the beauty of the original to shine through the English lines. This is an exemplary translation of one of the most wonderful voices in modern Hebrew poetry.”

— Amos Oz, author of The Same Sea and A Tale of Love and Darkness

“Zelda’s poems as given to us in Marcia Falk’s fine translations are wondrous, magical.”

— Li-Young Lee, winner of the 2003 Academy of American Poets Distinguished Poetry Award, author of Book of My Nights