Dr. Kathryn Hellerstein

Biography

Kathryn Hellerstein is a distinguished professor in the Department of Germanic Languages at the University of Pennsylvania, where she also serves as the Undergraduate Director for the Jewish Studies Program. She is a noted poet, translator, and scholar of Yiddish poetry. Hellerstein obtained her Ph.D. from Stanford University and has authored several influential works, including a translation study of Moyshe-Leyb Halpern's poems and a collection of selected poems by Kadya Molodowsky. She is a co-editor of the Jewish American Literature anthology and has contributed significantly to the field of American Yiddish poetry through her publications and translations across various prestigious journals. Hellerstein's scholarly interests include Yiddish language and literature, gender studies within Jewish literature, and the nuances of literary translation. She has been recognized with numerous fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities, enhancing her scholarly profile. Hellerstein's forthcoming anthology titled 'Question Tradition: Women Poets in Yiddish' is highly anticipated after winning the 2014 National Jewish Book Award in the Women's Studies category.

Research Interests