Bridging the Divide: The Selected Poems of Hava Pinhas-Cohen, Bilingual Edition (Judaic Traditions in Literature, Music, and Art)

Raised in a Ladino-speaking family of Bulgarian Jewish immigrants, Pinhas-Cohen fuses the ancient Sephardic chant of her childhood with the contemporaryrhythm of Israeli life. This singular talent for bridging the ancient and themodern sets her apart from most other Hebrew poets of her generation. Secularin style and spirit, yet rooted in the life cycle of religious Judaism, Pinhas-Cohen’s poems portray everyday life in modern Israel through a sacred yetpersonal language. Awarded the coveted Prime Minister’s Prize for her poetry,Pinhas-Cohen is a poet whose verse in English translation is long overdue. Thisbilingual collection offers readers a careful selection of poems from each of herseven published volumes. Hart-Green has worked closely with the poet herselfon these translations, several of which have appeared in journals such as theJewish Quarterly and the Toronto Journal of Jewish Thought. Her lively translationsdisplay the dazzling breadth and depth of Pinhas-Cohen’s oeuvre, makingBridging the Divide not only the first but the definitive English-language editionof this vital Hebrew poet’s work.