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Stories of Exile Book Discussion

The Glatstein Chronicles by Jacob Glatstein

Part of the library's "Stories of Exile" series.

Join Professor Anna Elena Torres to explore and discuss The Glatstein Chronicles by Jacob Glatstein. This seminal American work from the Yiddish literary canon, in a restored English edition, offers the luminous narrative of the author’s journey home to his Polish birthplace. In 1934, with World War II on the horizon, Jacob Glatstein (1896 –1971) traveled from his home in America to his native Poland to visit his dying mother. One of the foremost Yiddish poets of the day, he used his journey as the basis for two autobiographical novellas, together known as The Glatstein Chronicles, in which he intertwines childhood memories with observations of growing anti-Semitism in Europe.

Registration is required. After registering, you will be contacted by librarian Rachel Garcia and she will provide instructions on how to access a copy of the book in your preferred format. The ebook is always available to read through Hoopla. There are limited print copies of the book available. 

This program is part of the library's "Stories of Exile" series taking place this fall. This series is the result of a grant awarded to Wilmette Public Library and twenty-seven other libraries around the country by the Yiddish Book Center. The Yiddish Book Center is a nonprofit organization working to recover, celebrate, and regenerate Yiddish and modern Jewish literature and culture. With this series, the Center hopes to use Yiddish literature as a lens to reflect upon the experience of exile, displacement, and migration shared across cultures and throughout history.

Anna Elena Torres is an Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago where she is a scholar of Comparative Literature specializing in Jewish Studies.  Her current work examines how Yiddish literature was informed by mass migration and movements for human rights beyond the frames of statism and nationalism.

For those who would like to purchase a copy of The Glatstein Chronicles, please support our local independent bookstore, The Book Stall at 811 Elm Street in Winnetka.

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