Sarah Reisen

Sarah Reisen (1885–1975) was a Belarusian-American Yiddish poet and translator.

Early life

Sarah Reisen was born in 1885 to Kalmen Reisen and Kreyne Epshtayn. Kalmen was a writer, as well as her two brothers Abraham and Zalmen. At home, she learned Torah portions from her father, Hebrew from the rabbi's wife, German from her mother, and Russian from her teacher. Her mother died when Reisen was ten, after which she briefly lived in Vinitze and Mohilne. Reisen moved then to Minsk at the age of 14, where she worked as a seamstress a Russian tutor, and continued her studies. Reisen got married in 1904 to writer David Kasel and had a son Moishe. This marriage ended in a divorce however, and after moving around for a few years, she immigrated to New York City in 1933.^[1]

Career

Reisen's first work, a publication of a sketch in Russian as well as a translation of a work by I.L. Peretz was published when she was seventeen. She soon joined the Yiddish literary circle, writing sketches, short stories, and poems for various periodicals and publications such as Di Folkstzaytung, Der Veg, Der Fraynd, The Forward, Feder, and her brother's publication Eyropeyishe Literatur, sometimes under the pen name Sarah Kalmens.^[2] Along with writing for publications, she also wrote and performed for Yiddish Theater. Reisen also translated works into Yiddish, including works done by Tolstoy, Andreyev, Turgenev, Pushkin, and others. She is known for working on children's books, and adapting works of Oscar Wilde for Yiddish schools.^[1]

Reisen died on October 25, 1975 in New York City.^[2]

References