The winner of CIYCL's Fourth International Yiddish-Into-English Poetry Translation Contest is Lena Watson of London, England. Her skillful translation is true to the meaning, rhythm and rhyme of the original Mordechai Gebirtig work, ״מײַן פֿרילינג״ "My Spring"/ "Mayn Friling". As the winner, Ms. Watson receives a prize of $180.00.

Mordechai Gebirtig (1877-1942) was born and lived in Krakow, Poland. Though he made his living as a carpenter he was also involved in the Yiddish theater and befriended many artists of his day. He is regarded as one of the most influential and popular writers of Yiddish songs and poems. Folkstimlekh (In a folk mode) was published in 1920. In 1936, friends published a collection of his poetry called Mayne Lider (My songs). His works are still lovingly performed and recorded around the world. In June of 1942 he was killed during a deportation from the Krakow Ghetto but the many works he wrote during the occupation were miraculously saved.

The CIYCL Poetry Translation Contest is made possible by support from Lee Chesnin and Stephen Lesser.

Click here to see the First-Place Winning Poem

Links to Some Other Yiddish-English Poetry Worthy of Discovery
For more excellent new translations of Yiddish poetry on the web, please check out the following:

• Polish-born, Melbourne poet, Yossel Birstein: www.yosselbirstein.org
• Polish-born Montreal Yiddish poet, Rachel Korn: www.rachelkorn.com
• Warsaw Yiddish poet, Yisroel Shtern: www.yisroelshtern.org
• American Yiddish poet, Menke Katz: www.dovidkatz.net
• American Yiddish poet, Boris Karloff (Dov-Ber Kerler): www.elabrek.blogspot.com

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We are The California Institute for Yiddish Culture & Language (CIYCL). Since 1999 we have been challenging the fog of lost memory and ignorance about Yiddish culture. We work against the tide that separates most Jews alive today from their own remarkable heritage and that has put Yiddish at risk of expiring. We cherish and illuminate a vast legacy - a heritage which cannot be replicated. We are a spark of historical memory for the local and broader Jewish community, one that reaches beyond the normative Holocaust or Israel-related endeavors to keep alive the heart-and-soul culture that fed our people during a 1000-year long and vital period of our history. Our motto is "preservation through innovation." CIYCL is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

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