Limmud Toronto 2016

Polish poet Julian Tuwim (1894-1953) created a remarkable body of work, and public profile, attempting to bridge both his Polish and Jewish identities. And sometimes bridges are swept away. Tuwim's writing and life reflect a commitment to Jewish diasporic hybridity in a more monolithic time and place. His triumphs and tragedies cast him as the interwar voice of Polish poetics, the most searing Jewish voice of Holocaust testimony, and the lost returnee to postwar Poland who brought his life to a premature end. Julian Tuwim is too little known in the West today. He is a major poet, reflecting the dilemmas of Jewish identity in 20th century Eastern Europe. Memory has been kinder to Tuwim in his homeland. In recent years, Poland has seen a flurry of memorials and celebrations in his honour. Is this how bridges are rebuilt? Come explore the writing, life and legacy of Julian Tuwim.