Today in Yiddishkayt… December 5

Birthday of Celia Dropkin, Poet

Celia Dropkin was born Tsilye Levine in Bobruisk on December 5, 1887. She had a traditional early education and then completed the Russian gymnasium. She headed to Kiev for further study and was mentored by the Hebrew writer Genessin, who encouraged her writing. After returning home and marrying in 1909, the young couple was forced to emigrate because of her husband’s Bundist activism. In New York, she continued writing and in 1918 began publishing her first Yiddish poems to great acclaim. Dropkin died on August 17, 1956.

• Celia Dropkin • ציליע דראַפּקין

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  Celia Dropkin was born and raised in the White Russian town of Bobruisk. After attending the local Russian state school and gymnasium, Dropkin began writing in Russian. She immigrated to the United States in 1912 and began publishing Yiddish poetry in the leading literary journals beginning in 1918.

  

• With the Introspectivists

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  Initially, Dropkin affiliated with the young, modernist "In zikh (Introspectivist)" group of poets in New York, who introduced a radical use of free verse into Yiddish poetry and were highly influenced by the Anglo-American Imagist poets. Her first Yiddish poems (including translations of her Russian poetry) were published in the "In Zikh" journal and in other avant garde literary magazines.

  

• The Circus Lady • די צירקוס-דאַמע

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  One of Dropkin's most famous poems, "Di Tsirkus-Dame (The Circus Lady)," (shown here alongside one of Dropkin's watercolor paintings) is a prime example of Dropkin's daring approach to Yiddish poetry, filled with formal innovation and erotic energy.

  

• In Hot Wind • אין הייסן ווינט

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  Although her poetry was widely printed and met with great acclaim, Dropkin published only one book of poetry, "אין הייסן ווינט (In Hot Wind)" in 1935. After her death, the volume was republished by her children and included a sampling of her oil paintings and watercolors, such as this one of Washington Heights.