Negotiating Jewish Canadian Identity Montreal Yiddish Literary ...

Negotiating Jewish Canadian Identity ♦ 29lication. The Yiddish writers crossed genres: they variously authored worksof poetry, prose, drama, essays, book reviews, scholarship, and translations ofbelles-lettres as well as non-fiction from other languages into Yiddish. Likemuch of the Yiddish world, the limited professionalization of Yiddish culturein Montreal curtailed available venues for publication and limited opportunitiesfor specialization; outside of the major centers such as Warsaw or NewYork, virtually no Yiddish writers were able to eke out a living from their craft,even as writers for the Yiddish press. 8Although the Montreal Yiddish literary journals were collaborative efforts,three individuals were key to their production: J. I. Segal, A. Sh. Shkolnikov,and N. Y. Gotlib. J. I. (Yankev-Yitskhok) Segal, Canada’s premier Yiddish poet,stemmed from a family of traditional Jewish scholars and rabbis and wasraised in Koretz, Ukraine. He immigrated to Montreal in 1911 at age sixteenand found work with his siblings in a garment shop. 9 With the encouragementof Keneder Adler editor Moshe Shmuelson, Segal published his first poemsin the newspaper and had become a regular contributor by 1916. A prolificand critically acclaimed poet, Segal was the moving force behind a number ofMontreal literary journals. At the same time he mentored Yiddish poets suchas Ida Maza, Sholem Shtern and Shabse Perl, his brother, Nekhemye Segal,and Minsk-born poet A. Sh. (Avrom-Shloyme) Shkolnikov. Shkolnikov hadarrived in Montreal in 1919 at the age of twenty-three and worked as a baker.He published his first poem in 1921 in the first of J. I. Segal’s literary journalsand went on to write for, edit, and publish many others. Kovno-born poetN. Y. (Noyekh Yitskhok) Gotlib, who arrived in Montreal in 1930, was activeas editor of several local journals through the 1950s. These editors, along withtheir associates, more often than not assumed the full responsibility for thejournals, including the publication costs. 10Regardless of their stated goals and ideological orientation, the journalsshared a common cast of contributors. The most frequently published writers,identified here by their primary literary vocation, include: literary critic H. M.8On the contrasting professionalization of Yiddish culture in Poland, see David E.Fishman, The Rise of Modern Yiddish Culture (Pittsburgh, 2005), pp. 86–87.9See Shari Cooper Friedman, “Between Two Worlds: The Works of J. I. Segal,” in AnEveryday Miracle, pp. 115–128.10H. M. Caiserman, Yidishe dikhter in kanade ( Jewish Poets in Canada, Montreal,1934), p. 65. A. Sh. Shkolnokov, for example, devoted a large part of his personal incometo the production of literary journals (Sholem Shtern, “Der dikhter a-sh. shkolnikov,” inShrayber vos ikh hob gekent: memuarn un essayn [Montreal, 1982], p. 255).Vol. 27, No. 4 ♦ 2009