On a Clear April Morning: A Jewish Journey

Marcos Iolovitch

Published by Academic Studies Press 2020

On a Clear April Morning

A Jewish Journey

Marcos Iolovitch
Translated by: Merrie Blocker

In the series Jewish Latin American Studies

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781644692998

Overview
Contents

About this book

On a Clear April Morning is a lyrical and riveting coming of age story set among early twentieth-century immigrants brought to a Jewish farming experiment in an isolated corner of Brazil. This first English edition includes historical notes covering Jewish farming communities in the U.S., Canada and South America.

Author / Editor information

Blocker Merrie :

Merrie Blocker is a former U.S. diplomat who served as Cultural Attaché in Porto Alegre, Brazil, the setting for On a Clear April Morning, as well as in Central Asia and Romania and throughout Latin America.

Born in a small Ukrainian village, Marcos Iolovitch was raised in southern Brazil among poor Jewish farmers and peddlers. He became a noted poet and essayist and practiced law. A fighter for social justice, he dedicated his autobiographical novel to “all those who suffer and dream of a better world.”

Merrie Blocker is a former U.S. diplomat who served as Cultural Attaché in Porto Alegre, Brazil, the setting for On a Clear April Morning, as well as in Central Asia and Romania and throughout Latin America.

Reviews

“In this very interesting Jewish immigration story, Iolovitch throws light on Jewish emigration and life in South America. … The poetic language of Iolovich in this novel is very readable and well worth the time.”

—Marcia R. Rudin, Reform Judaism

“An oft-cited fact of history is that the first Jewish community in colonial America consisted of Jews from Brazil who were fleeing the long arm of the Inquisition. Beyond that, however, we hear very little of the place where they came from. That’s why On a Clear April Morning, a novel written in Portuguese by the late Marcos Iolovitch, first published in Brazil in 1940 and only recently translated into English by Merrie Blocker, is such an exceptional book. … The book is considerably enriched by the foreword, preface and afterword that appear in Blocker’s translation. Yet, even with the enriching efforts of Merrie Blocker and other contributors to the English edition, Marcos Iolovitch is truly and fully himself, a writer who wins us over completely.”

—Jonathan Kirsch, the Jewish Journal

“[A] moving and heartbreaking immigrant account that began with a relatively abundant life in Zagradowka, a village in the Ukrainian province of Kherson. … I urge readers to discover for themselves this unassuming masterpiece.”

— Irena Karshenbaum, Jewish Post & News

“Marcos Iolovitch’s On a Clear April Morning is an autobiography—first published in Portuguese in 1940 with a second edition in 1987, and now introduced to English readers by Merrie Blocker. A series of short memories arranged in twenty-seven chapters of chronological order and without an overarching dramatic arc, the book becomes a chronicle rather than a novel—a chronicle of a specific time and a specific Jewish immigrant experience. Nevertheless, these are often delicately described, and the book is beautifully translated as Blocker manages to transmit the Portuguese into an English that flows naturally even through paragraph-length sentences, successfully keeping the translation as close as possible to the original phrasing without losing the musicality of Iolovitch’s writing.”

—Eva Wissting, Asymptote

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Preface to the Second Portuguese Edition by Moacyr Scliar, 1987 Publicly Available Download PDF	xii
Translator’s Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	xv
Chapter 1 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 2 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	5
Chapter 3 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
Chapter 4 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	16
Chapter 5 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	18
Chapter 6 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
Chapter 7 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	26
Chapter 8 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	28
Chapter 9 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	34
Chapter 10 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	38
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Chapter 18 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	60
Chapter 19 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	64
Chapter 20 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	70
Chapter 21 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	74
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Chapter 23 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	78
Chapter 24 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	81
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Chapter 26 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	88
Chapter 27 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	91
Afterword Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	95
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	108
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	122