On the Other Side of the Poem: The Joe Fishstein Collection of Yiddish Poetry (hybrid)

Location: Rare Books and Special Collections, 4th floor, Colgate Room, McLennan Library Building (or online)

Please see listing here for full details. 

The Joe Fishstein Collection of Yiddish Poetry, housed in Rare Books and Special Collections, is a unique example of a man’s devotion to the literary production and heritage of a community that held profound personal meaning for him. The collection consists of some 2,300 Yiddish works, mostly poetry, and includes many rare volumes. Many of the works have beautiful hand-made jackets created by Joe Fishstein, the Bronx garment worker who collected them. This extraordinary collection shows us how a man ornamented his life through his poetry books. In this workshop, guest speaker Claire Sigal will take a page out of Joe Fishstein’s book, metaphorically, and explore personalizing and monogramming our own bookmarks with a hands-on activity.

This is a hybrid event. Please indicate whether you will attend online or in-person. In-person attendees are asked to please bring a pencil.

Open to all, please RSVP.

About the Speaker

Claire Sigal holds a BFA in Art History from Concordia University and a MISt in Library Sciences from McGill University, both in Montreal. Her lectures focus on the intersection of textiles and literature and multi-alphabetical cataloguing. She is a historical Judaica embroidery recreator and folk dancer.