Jacob Isaac Segal

A beautifully written and researched book abounding in grace, nuance and depth.

As
Canada’s most renowned
Yiddish poet and
a celebrated
figure in Jewish letters, a
full-length study of
J.I. Segal is long
overdue….
This is the
first monograph to appear that focuses specifically on Segal. … A
significant
contribution to our knowledge of Segal’s life
and writing… the
extensive primary
source material offered by this encyclopedic work will be of great
value to those who seek to undertake a scholarly analysis that situates Segal within the wider context of
Yiddish letters in
Canada as well as internationally.

"According to
Anctil Segal was the
first poet in Quebec to embrace
modern urbanity in his work. Consequently, he choses
to
focus on Segal’s Montréalité, both the lens through which the poet’s modernity is reflected and
the repository of longing for
the idealized
innocence of the shietl. However, Segal also ‘appropriates’ Montreal by Yiddishizing it…This book is sure
to resonate deeply with readers partly because the
fragile memory of Segal, the
reverred forgotten poet, is reminiscent of
the fate of Yiddish culture itself….This intimate, compelling and scholarly collective portrait is
essential for anyone interested in
the inner life
of the Jewish community, and
in the immigrant experience in Montreal."

Published by the University of Ottawa Press last
year, Felsen's translation has been hailed as a 'brilliant' and 'sensitive'
rendering of Anctil's original work (...).