Poets of three nations debut in JCC’s new season

By Eileen Wingard

LA JOLLA, California — The ninth season of Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices will open with three featured poets, Samantha Lennon, Marc Rolnick and Ilana Brosh. Tuesday evening, January 17, 7  p.m., these three talented writers will inaugurate the 2017 season of this series in the Astor Judaica Library of the Lawrence Family JCC.

Samantha Lennon, a native of South Africa, writes both poetry and prose for children and young adults, including rhyming picture books and Jewish-themed works.

Lennon is a long-standing member of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators. Her works have appeared in online periodicals, poetry anthologies and have been selected for publication in Highlights for Children Magazine. Her New Adult Verse Novel manuscript was a finalist in the 2014 North Texas Romance Writers of America: Great Expectations Contest.

An alumnus of Brandeis University, Lennon has worked as a Senior IT Business Systems Analyst, Senior Technical Consultant and Project Manager in various technology roles. She has recently started a non-profit organization, GotWheels?, to benefit her local homeless community.

Marc Rolnick has written poetry periodically since childhood. He was born in New York and educated in California, New York and Rhode Island, primarily in the liberal arts, with concentrations on classical music and the history of art. He has played oboe professionally.

Ilana Brosh, a Jerusalem native, is spending the school year in San Diego with her husband, a visiting professor in SDSU’s Judaic Studies program. She will be reading her poetry, first in its original Hebrew, then summarize the content in English.

Brosh began writing poetry at the age of 14. By 21, she became quite prolific. She received her BA degree in English Literature and French Literature from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem Her works have appeared in the publications of Beit Avi Chai, the Jerusalem center for Jewish and Israeli culture.

She worked as office manager and project coordinator at the Avi Chai Foundation as well as linguistic editor and translator. She also worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 1970s, at Yad Vashem in the 1980s, and at the Hebrew University Office of the Vice President for External Relations in the 1990s. Currently retired, she is extensively involved in volunteer activities.

Following the presentations by the featured poets, there will be a half hour of open microphone, at which members of the audience are welcome to share up to 5 minutes of their work.

The evening is moderated by poet Joy Heizmann. It concludes with refreshments and an opportunity to speak with the presenters.

*
Wingard is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. She may be contacted via eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com