Eliezer Blum
Eliezer Blum, known by the pen name B. Alquit, was a Polish-born American Yiddish poet, short story writer, critic, and translator associated with the modernist In-Zikh movement. His work appeared in major Yiddish literary periodicals, and he published collections of poetry and prose as well as translations. He contributed to New York’s Yiddish literary community through creative writing, criticism, and editorial work.
Early life
Blum was born in 1896 in Chełm, Poland, and emigrated to the United States in 1914. He wrote for Yiddish newspapers and journals including Die Zukunft, Freie Arbeiter Shtimme, and the Jewish Morning Journal, where he served on the editorial staff. He was married to the poet and translator Etta Blum, who translated several of his works into English.Literary career
In-Zikh movement
Blum was identified as one of the principal writers of the In-Zikh school, along with Jacob Glatstein, Aaron Glanz-Leyeles, Zisha Landau, David Ignatoff, Menashe Unger, and N. B. Minkoff. A 1923 studio portrait of the group includes Blum, photographed with Glatstein, Ignatoff, Unger, Landau, Minkoff, and Glanz-Leyeles.Poetry
Blum’s poetry appeared in leading Yiddish modernist journals and was later included in major anthologies such as A Treasury of Yiddish Poetry and Sing, Stranger: A Century of American Yiddish Poetry.His poetry collection Lider was published in 1964 by CYCO.
Short stories
Blum published short fiction in Yiddish newspapers and journals. His major prose work, Oyfn veg tsum Perets Skver, a 328-page collection of short stories, was published by CYCO in 1960.Translation work
Blum translated Arthur Schnitzler’s novella Kasanovas aheymker into Yiddish in 1926.His Yiddish stories were translated into English by Etta Blum in the volume Revolt of the Apprentices and Other Stories.
Critical writing
Blum wrote literary criticism for journals including In Zikh. His critical essays have been cited in later scholarship on Debora Vogel and American Yiddish modernism.Memorial and community writing
Blum contributed a Yiddish-language article to the Chełm memorial volume published in 1954 by the former residents’ society of Chełm.Works
Books (Yiddish)
Oyfn veg tsum Perets Skver, 328 pp.Lider, 99 pp.Kasanovas aheymker.In English
Revolt of the Apprentices and Other Stories, Thomas Yoseloff, 1970.Contributions to Anthologies
- Poems in A Treasury of Yiddish Poetry
- Poems in ''Sing, Stranger: A Century of American Yiddish Poetry''
Essays
- “Moonlit Nights” in Yizkor-bukh Chelm, pp. 371–372.