Cover design: Gainford Design Associates
From Soho to Jerusalem contains most of Chaim Lewis's writings of the 1990s and charts a memorable journey through Jewish Experience in the twentieth century, including the Holocaust and the creation of Israel as a nation. The book consists mainly of poetry, but by including two colourful prose pieces Lewis defies the artificial convention of rigidly separating prose and poetry. Direct and economical in expression, his work is immediately accessible and appealing to readers. This new collection establishes Chaim Lewis's place among contemporary poets.
Beginning with a prose piece about his Yiddish-speaking immigrant parents who settled in Soho about 100 years ago, he explores aspects of his family's life in London before moving on to historical, cultural, religious, philosophical and political themes, as well as more personal recollections. While four of the eight sections are mainly devoted to short, often lyrical poems, each of the others contains a single long poem. These range from the fable-like to the wittily satirical as Lewis castigates consumer capitalism and secular modernity. In the penultimate section, he celebrates Jerusalem as a place of spiritual renewal, and the book ends with a verse essay about Karl Marx — a caustic farewell to both Marxism and the twentieth century.
From Soho to Jerusalem costs £8.00 and has
ISBN 1-873226-40-3
It was published on June 30, 2000.
Chaim Lewis was born and grew up in Soho, and Jewish immigrant life there during the interwar years is the subject of his prize-winning prose memoir, A Soho Address. After service in World War II he turned to journalism, first in England and then South Africa, where he lived for 18 years. He published his first collection of poems, Shadow in the Sun, in Cape Town and became recognised as a South African poet, appearing in many anthologies and magazines. His second, intensely Jewish collection, Clouds of Glory over Soho Rooftops, indicates in its title a return to his roots. He now lives in north London.
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