The Canvas and Other Stories

By Salomea Perl
Translated by Ruth Murphy
Ben Yehuda Press
Published in 2021

131 pages, 6 x 9 in
Paperback

The Canvas and Other Stories by Salomea Perl is a bilingual Yiddish-English text featuring the only known stories Perl wrote and published in the various Yiddish newspapers of her time. Uncovered after two years of research and translated by Ruth Murphy, the book presents the original Yiddish text and English translation in a side-by-side format. Murphy’s translations present Perl’s voice to English readers, while Perl’s rich, authentic Yiddish brings readers back to the Jewish, Yiddish-speaking streets of turn-of-the-century Poland. The insightful introduction by Dr. Justin Cammy gives the historical background of both the text and its author. The work of Salomea Perl, an author completely unknown until these translations, is an important addition to ongoing discovery of female Yiddish writers.

Salomea Perl (1869–1916) was born in the town of Łomża (now Poland) and raised in the larger city of Lublin. After completing studies at the University of Geneva, she settled in Warsaw. Her Yiddish stories were published in Yontev Bletlekh, the self-proclaimed radical magazine published by Y. L. Peretz, starting in 1895. Her seventh and final known Yiddish work was published in 1910.

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Watch YIVO's book talk with Ruth Murphy about this title!

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