Old Love

Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904-91) was the author of many novels, stories, children's books, and memoirs. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978. (Publisher Provided) Isaac Bashevis Singer was born in Poland, the son of a rabbi. He received a traditional Jewish education, including training at the rabbinical seminary in Warsaw. He began writing in Hebrew while he worked for 10 years as a proofreader and translator in Warsaw. Although his early work was in Hebrew, most of his fiction has been written in Yiddish. In 1935, Singer immigrated to New York, where he became a journalist for a Jewish newspaper. Most of his stories were originally published in this newspaper in serial form. None of his works was translated into English until 1950. Singer is above all a storyteller, and his tales of Jewish life in Poland, Germany, and America are rich in vivid detail, humor, and drama. He is especially skillful at providing psychological insight into the characters he creates. His vital and colorful characters have also been brought to the stage and screen in such adaptations as the film Enemies: A Love Story. In 1964, Singer was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1978, he became the first Yiddish writer to win the Nobel Prize for literature. He died after suffering a series of strokes on July 24, 1991.