Chana Bloch
Encyclopedia
Chana Bloch is an American poet, translator, and scholar. She is a professor emerita of English at Mills College
in Oakland, California
.
, her M.A. degrees in Judaic Studies and English literature from Brandeis University
, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of California at Berkeley. She taught at Mills College for over thirty years and directed their Creative Writing Program. Bloch has held residencies at the Bellagio Center for Scholars and Artists, the MacDowell Colony
, Yaddo
and the Djerassi Resident Artists Program. She has given lectures and poetry readings at numerous U.S. colleges and universities.
Bloch has published four collections of her poetry: The Secrets of the Tribe, The Past Keeps Changing, Mrs. Dumpty and Blood Honey. Her work has been published in The New Yorker
, Atlantic Monthly, The Nation
and included in Best American Poetry, The Pushcart Prize and other anthologies. She is the poetry editor of Persimmon Tree, an online journal of the arts by women over sixty.
She is co-translator, with Ariel Bloch, of The Song of Songs. She translated The Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai
with Stephen Mitchell, and Amichai's Open Closed Open, as well as Hovering at a Low Altitude: The Collected Poetry of Dahlia Ravikovitch
with Chana Kronfeld. Bloch is also the author of the critical study, Spelling the Word: George Herbert
and the Bible.
Chana's Story, a song cycle by David Del Tredici
based on her work, premiered at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
in San Francisco. Jorge Liderman
's cantata
, The Song of Songs, based on her translation, was performed by the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
and the UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus at Cal Performances.
Bloch won the Poetry Society of America
's Di Castagnola Award for Blood Honey; the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry for Mrs. Dumpty; and the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation
, together with Chana Kronfeld, for Open Closed Open. Her translation of the Song of Songs was named as a Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year. Her awards include two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts
, in poetry and in translation, a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities
, two Pushcart Prizes, and the Discovery Award of the 92nd Street Y
Poetry Center.
She has lived in Berkeley, California
since 1967. She has two grown sons, Benjamin and Jonathan, from her marriage to Ariel Bloch, a former professor of Semitic Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley. She married Dave Sutter in 2003.
Mills College
Mills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...
in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
.
Life and work
Bloch earned her B.A. from Cornell UniversityCornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, her M.A. degrees in Judaic Studies and English literature from Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of California at Berkeley. She taught at Mills College for over thirty years and directed their Creative Writing Program. Bloch has held residencies at the Bellagio Center for Scholars and Artists, the MacDowell Colony
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
, Yaddo
Yaddo
Yaddo is an artists' community located on a 400 acre estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment."...
and the Djerassi Resident Artists Program. She has given lectures and poetry readings at numerous U.S. colleges and universities.
Bloch has published four collections of her poetry: The Secrets of the Tribe, The Past Keeps Changing, Mrs. Dumpty and Blood Honey. Her work has been published in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, Atlantic Monthly, The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
and included in Best American Poetry, The Pushcart Prize and other anthologies. She is the poetry editor of Persimmon Tree, an online journal of the arts by women over sixty.
She is co-translator, with Ariel Bloch, of The Song of Songs. She translated The Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai
Yehuda Amichai
Yehuda Amichai was an Israeli poet. Amichai is considered by many, both in Israel and internationally, as Israel's greatest modern poet. He was also one of the first to write in colloquial Hebrew....
with Stephen Mitchell, and Amichai's Open Closed Open, as well as Hovering at a Low Altitude: The Collected Poetry of Dahlia Ravikovitch
Dahlia Ravikovitch
-Biography:Ravikovitch was born in Ramat Gan on November 27, 1936. She learned to read and write at the age of three. Her father, Levi, was a Russian-born Jewish engineer who arrived in the British Mandate of Palestine from China. Her mother, Michal, was a teacher who came from a religious...
with Chana Kronfeld. Bloch is also the author of the critical study, Spelling the Word: George Herbert
George Herbert
George Herbert was a Welsh born English poet, orator and Anglican priest.Being born into an artistic and wealthy family, he received a good education that led to his holding prominent positions at Cambridge University and Parliament. As a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, Herbert excelled in...
and the Bible.
Chana's Story, a song cycle by David Del Tredici
David Del Tredici
David Del Tredici, born March 16, 1937 in Cloverdale, California, is an American composer. According to Del Tredici's website, Aaron Copland said David Del Tredici "is that rare find among composers — a creator with a truly original gift...
based on her work, premiered at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is a multi-disiplinary contemporary arts center in San Francisco, California, United States. Located in Yerba Buena Gardens, YBCA features visual art, performance, and film/video that celebrates local, national, and international artists and the Bay Area's diverse...
in San Francisco. Jorge Liderman
Jorge Liderman
Jorge Mario Liderman was an American composer. He was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2003 and taught composition at the University of California, Berkeley.- Life :...
's cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
, The Song of Songs, based on her translation, was performed by the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players is an ensemble of classically trained instrumentalists that commissions, performs, and records innovative new music, including music that integrates electronic and acoustic sounds.-History:...
and the UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus at Cal Performances.
Bloch won the Poetry Society of America
Poetry Society of America
The Poetry Society of America is a literary organization founded in 1910 by poets, editors, and artists including Witter Bynner. It is the oldest poetry organization in the United States. Past members of the have included such renowned writers as Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Edna St. Vincent...
's Di Castagnola Award for Blood Honey; the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry for Mrs. Dumpty; and the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation
PEN Award for Poetry in Translation
The PEN Award for Poetry in Translation honors a poetry translation published in the preceding year.The award is separate from the similar PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize.-Winners:-See also:*American poetry*List of poetry awards...
, together with Chana Kronfeld, for Open Closed Open. Her translation of the Song of Songs was named as a Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year. Her awards include two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
, in poetry and in translation, a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at...
, two Pushcart Prizes, and the Discovery Award of the 92nd Street Y
92nd Street Y
92nd Street Y is a multifaceted cultural institution and community center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, at the corner of E. 92nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Its full name is 92nd Street Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association...
Poetry Center.
She has lived in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
since 1967. She has two grown sons, Benjamin and Jonathan, from her marriage to Ariel Bloch, a former professor of Semitic Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley. She married Dave Sutter in 2003.
Poetry collections
- Blood Honey, Autumn House PressAutumn House PressAutumn House Press is an independent, non-profit literary publishing company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.In a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette poetry feature, Bob Hoover writes that "Simms says he started the operation after he noticed that the 'large traditional commercial presses, had...
(2009) - Mrs. Dumpty, University of Wisconsin Press (1998)
- The Past Keeps Changing, Sheep Meadow Press (1992)
- The Secrets of the Tribe, Sheep Meadow Press (1981)
Translations
- Hovering at a Low Altitude: The Collected Poetry of Dahlia Ravikovitch, with Chana Kronfeld. W.W. Norton (2009)
- Open Closed Open, Yehuda Amichai, with Chana Kronfeld. Harcourt Brace (2000)
- Yehuda Amichai: The Selected Poetry, with Stephen Mitchell. Harper & Row (1986). Revised and expanded edition, University of California PressUniversity of California PressUniversity of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish books and papers for the faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868...
(1996) - The Song of Songs, with Ariel Bloch. Random HouseRandom HouseRandom House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
(1995). Reprinted, University of California Press (1998) - The Window, Dahlia Ravikovitch, with Ariel Bloch. Sheep Meadow Press (1989)
- A Dress of Fire, Dahlia Ravikovitch. Sheep Meadow Press (1978)
Scholarship
- Spelling the Word: George Herbert and the Bible, University of California Press (1985)