Wow! A poetic evening to remember

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On May 16th I had a chanceTo spend some time at PomeranzThe launching of a book completely new!The venue perfect for the nightTo hear what gifted poets writeA presentation making a debut!

It seems most appropriate to introduce this memorable event with verse since that evening was dedicated to the launch of a magazine, The Deronda Review, a compilation of outstanding poetry. The expert organizer for the evening, Esther Cameron, is a brilliant, fascinating and modest woman – and a gifted poet in her own right. Her writing career began as a child and has resulted in a well-varied treasury of creative pieces in both English and Hebrew, many of which have appeared in periodicals.

Cameron was born in New York and raised in Madison, Wisconsin. Her love of poetry was nurtured mainly by classical poets like Keats and Shelley rather than the modern and postmodern, which she felt ‘fell flat’ and lacked emotional depth.

A turning point in Cameron’s life was her introduction to the poetry of the late Paul Celan, a Romanian of Jewish descent who was a survivor of the Holocaust and skillfully blended a modern technique with deep traditional emotion. As she immersed herself in Celan’s works, which affected her so powerfully, Cameron began to take steps on a personal journey that culminated with her conversion to Judaism in 1979. She spent the 1980s in Israel, after which she returned to the States where she started a magazine named the Neovictorian/Cochlea.

Esther Cameron reading from ‘The Deronda Review’ (credit: LES GLASSMAN)

During the Lebanese war in 2006, Cameron visited Israel again and decided then to change the name of the magazine to honor the hero of the last novel of George Eliot, the outstanding Victorian writer, Daniel Deronda, who made aliyah after discovering his Jewish roots. The focus of The Deronda Review is the effort to connect the good in Western culture with Israel and her values.

Working together with co-editor Mindy Aber Barad Golembo, the magazine was launched that evening at the Pomeranz book store.

Cameron opened the program standing several steps above the crowd on the spiral staircase, enabling the assembled to see and hear her, and the poets assumed the same position. Hearing the oral recitation of a verse by its creator lends greater depth to the work than reading the piece oneself; the listener can relate to the mood and bond emotionally with the feelings of its creator. The vocal timbre, physical movement, and expression can help conjure up visions that contribute to the excitement. The poets and other readers who contributed to the rich descriptive and emotional verses at this exceptional gathering were:

Cameron, Roberta Chester, David Shaffer (who read Ruth Fogelman’s poems), Mindy Aber Barad Golembo, Chana Kremer, Tirtsa Posklinsky-Shehori, Pesach Rotem, Eva Rotenberg, Yocheved Zemel, and Felice Miryam Kahn Zisken.

Cameron and Barad Golembo read from the magazine issue.

The evening was exceptional – a highlight for us!! I look forward to more evenings with The Deronda Review-ers!! ■