A C Jacobs (Arthur C. Jacobs) was a Scottish poet, born in Glasgow in 1937, he died in Madrid in 1994.

AC Jacobs
Born30 May 1937
Glasgow, Scotland
Died17 March 1994
Madrid, Spain
Known forScottish poet

Jacobs was Jewish, wrote in Yiddish and English,[1][2] and was a gifted translator of Hebrew.[3][4][5][6]

Jacobs grew up in a traditional Jewish family who were immigrants from Russia.[5] He studied at the University of Glasgow with Philip Hobsbaum and his early work was published in the Leeds magazine Stand by Jon Silkin.[3][5]

Jacobs' poetry is described as exploring questions of nationality and language.[5]

In his obituary, his editor Anthony Rudolf said: "Many of Jacobs's poems celebrate Jewish life or honour Jewish death, sometimes with a tartan tinge" [3] and in a collection of poems highlighted "his complex cultural identity as a Jew in Scotland, as a Scot in England, and as a diaspora Jew in Israel, Italy, Spain and the UK".[7] He variously used his un-Jewish name Arthur, his adopted Hebrew name, Chaim, signing himself as Arthur C. and A. C. Jacobs.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Poetry Magazines - The Poetry of A. C. Jacobs". poetrymagazines.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  2. ^ "Poem of the week: Supplication by AC Jacobs". the Guardian. 2019-03-25. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  3. ^ a b c "Obituary: A. C. Jacobs". The Independent. 1994-04-13. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  4. ^ Jacobs, A. C. (1976). The proper blessing : poems. London: Menard Press. ISBN 0-903400-24-3. OCLC 3061017.
  5. ^ a b c d "A. C. Jacobs Collection - Library | University of Leeds". explore.library.leeds.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  6. ^ Jacobs, A. C. (c. 1991). A bit of dialect. London: Hearing Eye. ISBN 1-870841-17-4. OCLC 26085660.
  7. ^ Jacobs, A. C. (2018). Nameless country : selected poems of A.C. Jacobs. Anthony Rudolf, Merle Bachman. Manchester. ISBN 978-1-78410-675-1. OCLC 1055325727.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)