‘We are still kvelling after last year’s Yiddish Poetica’

DUNERA will partner with Poetica and Kadimah Jewish Cultural Centre for Yiddish Poetica Part 2, The Sequel, The Return of the Kreplach Word Soup, this Sunday night, September 12.

The open mic online poetry evening will be hosted by Poetica’s Miriam Hechtman and Dunera’s Ilan Kidron.

It follows last year’s inaugural Yiddish Poetica event where poets, storytellers, singers and Yiddish lovers from around the world gathered online via Zoom.

“Dunera, the online home for Jews everywhere, is thrilled to join forces once again with Poetica and Kadimah Jewish Cultural Centre for Yiddish wordsmiths to share their ‘khokhme’ in an international open mic evening of poetry and song,” Kidron said. 

“Join us as a participant or viewer, for a joyful, funny and heymishe evening’s entertainment.”

Kidron said the inaugural event “was a tour de force asserting Yiddish poetry’s firm place in contemporary literature”. 

“Language was certainly no barrier for interpretation, with poets less familiar with Yiddish giving it a red hot go,” he said.

An Acknowledgement of Country in Yiddish by Kadimah’s Fay Burstin opened the night, signalling the place of Yiddish in the land down under and paying respect to Aboriginal elders, and recognising culture and land.

Poetica host Miriam Hechtman then segued each reading or song with the overarching question: how does Yiddish play out in your life, offering participants an opportunity to explore and share their connection to this unique language. 

“There is something about one’s mother tongue or language of origin, or even just the language you heard growing up, that speaks to you differently,” Kidron said. 

“Language has resonance, a vibration and plays on our senses, conjuring memory, time, place, emotion. 

“We are still kvelling after last year’s Yiddish Poetica.”

Register Here for Yiddish Poetica Part 2.
To watch last year’s event, click here.