Zina

About the Book

This book affords English-speaking readers their first opportunity to read and enjoy the poetry of Zina Weinshall.

Zina was born in Russia in 1900 and moved to Israel in 1920. Early on, she wrote her poetry in Russian, her mother tongue; later, after she had mastered the Hebrew language, she wrote her poems in Hebrew, the language of her adopted land. Through this translation of Zina’s poetry into English, poems from both groups are now accessible to western readers.

Seventy-eight of the poems in this book represent three separate collections of poems which Zina had printed as small books between 1929 and 1944 for distribution to family and friends. The poems have been left in their sequence as organized by Zina herself within each of the collections. Also included in this book is a poem Zina wrote after losing her son in war in 1948.

In addition to Zina’s poetry, readers will find a large collection of family photographs assembled by the editor, Zina’s daughter, Judith Weinshall Liberman, and the editor’s comments about each photograph, both captivating and enlightening.

The editor’s preface to the book, as well as her essays about the life and writings of Zina Weinshall, round out the picture, and help the reader gain insight into a unique poet.

About the Author

As a teenager in Russia, Zina Weinshall wrote poetry and recited it in public; some of her poems were published in the Russian press. After marrying Dr. Abraham Weinshall, she moved to Israel (then called “Palestine”) and settled in Haifa with her husband. She continued writing her poetry and reciting it in public in Israel well into the 1940s. Although she lived until 1990, she essentially stopped writing poetry after her son, Saul, was killed in the Israel War of Independence in 1948