The Amichai Windows

With New Year’s and the January blizzard behind us, it’s a quiet time of year. Which is just what I need to dig in again and start making more progress on producing The Amichai Windows.

Each poem will be made as a triptych that contains an inner and an outer sheet of paper that will function like a frame. Recently, I spent a week or so experimenting on how to attach the internal sheets (which will contain the poems) and the external sheets of handmade paper. I thought that I had two options: to glue or to sew. But, happily, discovered a third way to do it that I think is going to work the best. Continue reading →

In December, I went to the launch of Robert Alter’s new book of Yehuda Amichai’s poems in English translation at the 92nd Street Y in New York City.

There was a panel of folks who read Amichai poems and told stories about Yehuda Amichai as well as reflected on his poetry and its translation. Leon Wieseltier, a columnist with The Atlantic (formerly with The New Republic) moderated the evening. Panelists included Robert Alter, Hana Amichai, Chana Kronfeld, Stanley Moss and Philip Schultz.

A few tidbits:

Robet Alter: “Yehuda was a great poet and a dear person. He didn’t succumb to the temptation of being a professional poet. He was an ordinary guy. He shopped in the shuk, made jam and love and poems. He was unpretentious. He had a wonderful/wicked sense of humor and a great sadness in some poems.” Continue reading →

Eliezer Ben Yehuda’s window

As a book artist, each book presents its own challenges — and rewards. Part of the adventure is not knowing how to get there; no one has ever been there before. There’s no path in the woods to follow. Oh, you can take a path for a while but then you need to branch off in your own direction in order to realize your vision for the book. It’s equally true if you’re trying to create a poem, compose a symphony or do a painting.

To be an artist, it’s essential to fail. One needs to be prepared to try again to get where you want to go, to realize your inner vision. You may not even know where you want to go until you see it, until you arrive after a long, winding road. Paths are helpful; they enable us to go farther into the woods. But to realize one’s own vision — well, ultimately, that’s only something that each of us can do. With help, certainly. But artists are trailblazers. And often I find that even though I might get lost or fail in one way, it often yields results in another, unexpected way. Continue reading →