AJC Archives

Singer, Isaac Bashevis (1904-1991) Nobel Prize-winning Yiddish writer

Isaac Bashevis Singer was born in Radzymin, near Warsaw, in Poland, just after the turn of the century. In 1935, fleeing anti-Semitism and following his brother, he immigrated to the United States. Settling in New York, he first worked as a journalist and columnist for the Forward, a Yiddish newspaper. He went on to publish 18 novels, 14 children’s books, memoirs, essays, and collections of short stories. Among his best-known works are: The Family Moskat, The Manor, Gimpel the Fool and Spinoza of Market Street. Singer wrote almost exclusively in Yiddish and supervised the translation of his work into English. In 1978, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

[chronological order]

Responds to the question, "How would you define a Jewish writer as different from a writer who happens to be Jewish?" What he learned about writing from this brother, I. J. Singer, the elements of good writing. (September - October 1970)
Length: 4 min. 07 sec.

Why he believes Yiddish won't become a dead language. (September - October 1970)
Length: 1 min. 52 sec.

How his writing differs from that of other Yiddish writers, recalls how his work was criticized by his Yiddish colleagues, his rejection of their criticism. (September - October 1970)
Length: 2 min. 45 sec.

Belief in the occult; the devil and imps as symbols in his literature. (September - October 1970)
Length: 1 min. 24 sec.

Explains how the hero in Yiddish literature differs from the hero in Western literature. (September - October 1970)
Length: 2 min. 13 sec.

Responds to criticism that his writing reflects disbelief in striving, pride, and doubts about the "sufficiency of knowledge." (September - October 1970)
Length: 3 min. 55 sec.