Spring 2008

Yiddish is a dying language. But it wasn’t always so. In the early part of the 20th century, during its heyday, Yiddish theatre and literature thrived in North America and Eastern Europe. It originated within the Rhineland and spread amongst Jews in Central and Eastern Europe. The written language uses Hebrew characters, though it is a mixture of German, Polish, Russian, Hebrew, and several other languages. Once a thriving spoken language, Yiddish began dying off with Jewish emigration to North America.

When Cate Cochran’s marriage ended, she and her husband knew they wanted what was best both for them and for their kids. They were good co-parents and wondered if there was something better than shared custody and a routine of passing the kids back and forth, however amicably.

Rozena Maart’s newest novel opens with a rape that occurs in front of a home in Cape Town, one where five women gather every Friday night in the safety of a gated neighbourhood to discuss writing. As in her previous novel, Rosa’s District 6, Maart perfectly evokes the daily lives of South Africans. However, this time her novel centers on the horrendous and at times banal violence that besieges Cape Town women.

Ever since her early days fronting the band Rufus, when she implored us to “Tell Me Something Good,” Chaka Khan has had unmistakable pipes. The funk equivalent of Gladys Knight, Khan has been an underrated vocalist for most of her career. Sure, she has eight Grammy awards, but what good are tiny golden gramophones when your music isn’t getting out to the masses? How good is she? Well, she’s probably the only woman capable of taking a Prince song and making it her own.

The fact that renowned Canadian musician Marilyn Lerner recorded her most recent CD at CBC’s Glenn Gould studio seems fitting. This Winnipeg-bred, Toronto-based musician is the most likely heir to the mantel occupied by the famous scarf-wearing eccentric who brought Bach to modern audiences via the splendid Goldberg Variations. An undisputedly gifted composer, Lerner has also earned a reputation as a fine improviser, winning accolades from both critics and her peers in jazz circles.