Janet R. Kirchheimer
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Janet R. Kirchheimer is
a poet whose work has appeared in a variety of publications
both in the U.S. and abroad.
Her moving collection of
poems about the Holocaust, How
To Spot One Of Us (CLAL,
Nov.
2007) has received endorsements from Nobel Laureate Elie
Wiesel, Sir Martin Gilbert, and Rabbis Harold Kushner and
Irving “Yitz” Greenberg (Chairman Emeritus
of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council), as well as renowned
poets Mary Stewart Hammond, Yerra Sugarman, and Jeanne
Marie Beaumont.
Janet's work has appeared in journals including Atlanta Review,
Potomac Review, Limestone, Connecticut Review, Kalliope,
Lilith, Natural Bridge, PoetryNZ, Main Street Rag, on beliefnet.com
and babelfruit.com, in addition to a variety of Jewish publications.
In 2007, she was nominated for a Pushcart Poetry Prize.
A
recipient of a Drisha Institute for Jewish Education Arts
Fellowship for 2006-2007, Janet received Honorable Mention
in the 2008 Poetica Poetry contest, was a semi-finalist in
the “Discovery”/The Nation contest, a finalist
in the Portlandia Chapbook contest, and first runner up in
the Concrete Wolf Chapbook contest (2006). A finalist in
the Small Poetry Press 2004 Select Poets Series chapbook
contest, her essay, “Make Your Selection, Please,” was
a Jewish Telegraphic Agency feature article for Yom HaShoah
in 2001. In 1999, she was awarded Honorable Mention in the
Judah Magnes Museum Poems on the Jewish Experience contest.
Janet has given several readings
and spoken at a variety of locales including the ADL/Hidden
Child Foundation, YMCA
Men’s Club, Association of Jewish Family & Children’s
Agencies, Washington DC JCC, The Westover School, Poet’s
House, Cornelia Street Cafe, Teachers and Writers, Makor,
and various synagogues. As part of a 2008 Days of Remembrance
Holocaust Memorial Service, a selection of her poems was
read by Multi National Forces at Camp Victory in Baghdad,
Iraq.
Janet is also a member of Chevrah
Kadishah (the ritual preparation for Jewish burial), as are
her parents. Through
this experience,
as with her poems, she has been able to transform her family’s
pain into a moving tribute. “So many members of my
family never had a burial and, as the daughter of survivors,
the opportunity to give someone a proper Jewish burial is
a great honor for me.”
A Teaching Fellow at CLAL–The
National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Janet
conducts writing workshops
including, “Changing the World with Words,” where
adults and teens learn about Judaism using creative writing
exercises and poetry. She also leads a “Poetry Shmooze” where
participants read and discuss Jewish-themed poems.
Tel: 212.779.3300 x111
Email: jkirchheimer@clal.org |
