Miriam Karpilove (1888-1956), a prolific Yiddish author of short stories and serialized novels, was known for her sharp-tongued, daring, and unapologetically women-centric attitude. Jessica Kirzane will provide insights into Karpilove's life and writing, with particular attention to her most well known novel, Diary of a Lonely Girl, which Kirzane recently translated. Kirzane will explore Karpilove's pointed criticism of turn-of-the-century Yiddish free love that came at considerable expense to women.

Jessica Kirzane is the assistant instructional professor of Yiddish at the University of Chicago and the editor-in-chief of In geveb: A Journal of Yiddish Studies. She is the translator of Miriam Karpilove's Diary of a Lonely Girl, or the Battle against Free Love (Syracuse University Press, 2020).

Supported by the generosity of the Radov family.

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