Olga Kirsch
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Olga Kirsch (1924–1997) was a South African and Israeli poet.
Kirsch was born and brought up in Koppies in the Orange Free State. Her father had emigrated there from Lithuania and, though a Yiddish speaker, brought his daughter up to speak English. She nevertheless wrote in Afrikaans, publishing eight books of poetry in that language, as well as a volume of selected poems (she was only the second female Afrikaans poet to be published). Kirsch emigrated to Israel at the age of twenty-four, living there from 1948 until her death.
In 1990 she published her first book of poetry in English. She continued to write in English, and was actively involved with the Israel Association of Writers in English. Though well known as a poet in South Africa, she failed to achieve the same degree of fame in Israel or the English-speaking world.
[edit] Bibliography
- 1948: Mure van die Hart (Johannesburg: Afrikaanse pers boekhandel)
- 1972: Negentien Gedigte (Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau)
- 1976: Geil Gebied (Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau)
- 1978: Oorwinteraars in die Vreemde (Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau)
- 1982: Afskeide (Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau)
- 1983: Ruie tuin (Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau)
- 1990: The Book of Sitrya (Rehovot: O. Kirsch)
[edit] Sources and external links
- Olga Kirsch — from the Database of Family Names, Personality of the Week (retrieved 17 May 2006)
- English Writing in Israel — Karen Alkalay-Gut (retrieved 17 May 2006)
- List of contributors from Metamorphoses