ARN KRISHTALKE (AARON KRISHTALKA)

ARN KRISHTALKE (AARON KRISHTALKA) (b. July 1, 1940)

            He was born in Montreal and received a secular Jewish education.  He graduated from a Jewish middle school and received his doctor of philosophy degree from McGill University.  He was a professor of English history and philosophy at Dawson College.  At age nine he debuted in print with poems in the collection Yungvald (Young forest) (New York) 7 (1949) and in Toronto’s Vokhnblat (Weekly newspaper) (July 1949).  He went on to contribute poems to: Yidishe kultur (Jewish culture), Morgn frayhayt (Morning freedom), Keneder odler (Canadian eagle), Di prese (The press) in Buenos Aires, and Unzer fraynt (Our friend) in Montevideo, among other serials.  His poetry also appeared in: Nakhmen Mayzil, Amerike in yidishn vort (America in the Yiddish word) (New York, 1955); and Shmuel Rozhanski, Kanadish (Canadish) (Buenos Aires, 1974).  At age thirteen he published a book of poems: Gut morgn dir, velt (Good morning to you, world) (Montreal, 1953), 106 pp.  He lives in Montreal.

Photograph courtesy of the National Yiddish Book Center

Sources: Shmuel Niger, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (New York) (March 7, 1954); B. Y. Byalostotski, Kholem un vor, eseyen (Dream and reality, essays) (New York, 1956), p. 116; Zishe Vaynper, Shrayber un kinstler (Writer and artist) (New York, 1958), pp. 278-81; Yeshurin archive, YIVO (New York).

Khayim Leyb Fuks