YIVO Presents the New York Premiere of Burning Off the Page

(New York, NY) – On Tuesday, December 10, 2024 at 7:00pm (ET), the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research will host the New York premiere of Burning Off the Page, about Russian-born American Yiddish poet and fiction writer Celia Dropkin (1887–1956). The screening will be followed by a discussion with filmmaker Eli Gorn, Professor Agnieszka Legutko, and poet Edward Hirsch.

This documentary celebrates Dropkin’s unabashed writing about the female body and sexual liberation. Considered radical during her lifetime, Dropkin shocked readers around the world with sexually explicit depictions of lust. Her work defied gender norms and complicated traditional narratives and boundaries. Her poems invoked violent and erotic imagery as well as Christian iconography to describe passion, yearning, and death.

Burning Off the Page includes powerful dramatic readings, archival footage, historic recordings, and dazzling animations to bring Dropkin’s pioneering poems to life. Along with her descendants, filmmaker Eli Gorn interviews stars of the Jewish artistic world including writers, Yiddish translators, and musicians.

What:            Burning Off the Page
When:           Tuesday, December 10, 2024 at 7:00pm (ET)
Where:          In person at YIVO, Located in the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011)
Cost:              General Admission: $10 / YIVO members & students: $8
Reservations Available at:  yivo.org/Burning-Off-the-Page

This program is co-sponsored by the Carole Zabar Center for Film at the Marlene Myerson JCC Manhattan. This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

For more information contact:
Shelly Freeman
Chief of Staff

YIVO

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is dedicated to the preservation and study of the history and culture of East European Jewry worldwide. For nearly a century, YIVO has pioneered new forms of Jewish scholarship, research, education, and cultural expression. Our public programs and exhibitions, as well as online and on-site courses, extend our outreach to a global community. The YIVO Archives contains 24 million unique items and YIVO’s Library has over 400,000 volumes—the single largest resource for the study of East European Jewish life in the world. yivo.org / yivo.org/the-whole-story