ISBN 9780980272918
Pages 66
Dimensions 203 x 127 mm
Published 2008
Publisher Modjaji Books, South Africa
Format Paperback

Life in Translation

by Azila Talit Reisenberger

Azila Talit Reisenberger is a Bible scholar, a rabbi, a mother, a wife, and a poet. In all these selves she grapples with translating her life from Hebrew to English and back again. Life in Translation is full of wry humour, longing, bitterness, sweetness, playfulness, and subversions of traditional meanings and texts - a delightful book that charms and surprises anew with each reading.

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Reviews

"Tenderly and candidly these poems lay bare the experiences of a woman who feels herself an outsider, in between two lives, two countries, two languages. Mostly translated from the original Hebrew, these fresh moments of insight and nostalgia make an important contribution to the multi-lingual nature of South African poetry."

Marcia Leveson

"Not to be heard. Not to be understood. Azila Reisenberger's poetry makes us overwhelmingly aware how often we have to translate ourselves in order to matter."

Antjie Krog

About the Author

Azila Talit Reisenberger

Azila Talit Reisenberger is an award winning author who has had poetry and short stories published in Israel, the USA, UK, Germany and South Africa. Two of her plays: "Adam's Apple" and "The loving father", were staged at Grahamstown Festival. She is a senior lecturer in Hebrew and Jewish Studies in the School of Languages and Literatures at the University of Cape Town, and renowned for her passionate lectures and articles on gender issues and feminist theology in the Bible. For the past 17 years she has served as the Spiritual Leader of Temple Hillel, a progressive Jewish community in East London. She lives in Cape Town with her husband and three children.