The Yiddish Book Center's

Wexler Oral History Project

A growing collection of in-depth interviews with people of all ages and backgrounds, whose stories about the legacy and changing nature of Yiddish language and culture offer a rich and complex chronicle of Jewish identity.

My Father Sholem Shtern's Writing Places, Style, and Philosophy

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David Shtern, son of Yiddish writer Sholem Shtern, describes the mess of papers that was always scattered around his parents' house, and discusses his father's writing spots as well as his father's belief that writers should never be secluded and should instead enrich their writing by going out into society and observing people.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with David Shtern.

This excerpt is in English.

This interview is part of the Beyond the Books: Yiddish writers and their descendants series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

Sholem Shtern's "The White House," A Novel in Verse

6 min 12 sec

Opening Poem of The White House in Yiddish

4 min 3 sec

Sholem Shtern's Politics in "The White House" and other writings

3 min 22 sec

Why People Should Read Sholem Shtern

4 min 50 sec

Identity Theft and Father's Escape from Poland

2 min 51 sec

"He Put Himself Forward": Stories of Father, Sholem Shtern, Talking to Strangers and Promoting His Own Work

2 min 26 sec

My Father's (Sholem Shtern) Funeral and The Inconvenient Location of His Grave

1 min 58 sec

"He Inevitably Had A Rolled-Up Newspaper In The Pockets Of HIs Suits": Father's Physical Appearance

2 min 20 sec

Father's Childhood Stories From Tishevitz, Poland

3 min 14 sec

"Our Parents Worried About The Fate Of The World": Growing Up With Immigrant Parents

2 min 42 sec

Parents' Relationship, Memories Of Walks With Father

2 min 43 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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