By Eileen Wingard
LA JOLLA, California — The opening Jewish Poets–Jewish Voices program of the 2022-23 season will feature three local poets who immigrated to San Diego from other countries. The Tuesday, October 25, 7:00 p.m. gathering will take place in person in the Astor Judaica Library and feature Ukrainian native Jane Muschenetz, Uzbekistan-born Nathan Grinshpun, and Tel Avivian, Omer Zalmanowitz.
Following the hour-long presentation of the three featured poets, there will be a half hour of open mic during which audience members are welcome to read one of their poems. To sign up for open mic, email: melanier@lfjcc.org The program is free of charge, but requires registration: register here.
Featured poet, Jane Muschenetz, arrived in San Diego as a young child. Her love of the written word was one of the few possessions she was able to bring with her from the former Soviet Union. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from UCSD and her Master’s Degree from MIT. She won the Good Life Review Poetry prize in 2022 and was short-listed for the Press Chapbook Prize. Jane is also a talented graphic artist and received first place in the Lone Star Art Guild Competition and CAL Juried Art Shows.
The second featured poet, Nathan Grinshpun, received his MS degree from the University of Tashkent in Organic Chemistry. There, he also met his future wife, Anna. In 1980, they arrived in Canada where he completed his PhD in Chemical Physics and Engineering of Polymers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. He began work at the Dow Chemical Company, later Owens Corning, and then back to Dow in the United States. He invented and developed products and processes for the industry, working in Japan, Germany, Holland, UK and Sweden.
His first language was Yiddish, but he also speaks Russian, Uzbek, German and other languages. He began writing poetry during his childhood. Poetry writing became one of his many hobbies. Nathan will be reading his original poetry in Yiddish as well as in English.
The third featured poet, Omer Zalmanowitz, attended Cal State Northridge, where he studied English at the graduate level with a concentration in creative writing.
He continued toward a Master’s in Fine Arts at San Diego State University. His interests are in contemporary fiction, literary theory, creative writing studies and creative writing pedagogy. He is also interested in music and plays the guitar.
Poetry writing and backpacking are among his other passions. He currently is a Hebrew teacher, working in Los Angeles.
Following the program, there will be a reception with light refreshments during which the audience can meet the poets.
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Eileen Wingard is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. She may be contacted via eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com