Professional Development Seminar: "I Was Once a Boy": Teaching Gender in Yiddish Women's Poetry in Translation
What was it like to be a woman writing poetry in Yiddish in the early twentieth century? A generation of talented women writers shared their experiences and perspectives, in Yiddish poetry that is as surprising, shocking, and beautiful today as it was a century ago. Translators continue to be drawn to works by poets like Anna Margolin and Celia Dropkin and attempt to recreate and rewrite their poems in English translation. For students who cannot read the Yiddish originals, reading multiple English translations gives access to these poems in ways that reveal their complex explorations of gender identity. This session will model reading and teaching two of the most famous poems by Yiddish women writers through reading multiple English translations comparatively.