In this installment of the official UJPO Podcast, we interview celebrated Jewish, lesbian poet, academic, activist and author Irena Klepfisz, delving into her life-long journeys through language; the legacies of the Holocaust and the Labour Bund; and histories of queer and anti-Zionist activism. Along the way we learn about the challenges (and privileges) of coming out in the early 1970s in New York City; what it means to be an “authentic” Jew; and how children were taught Swedish in the 1940s.

Irena’s latest, award-winning book of poetry, Her Birth and Later Years; Poems new and collected, is now available in paperback, through Wesleyan University Press.