Reading and Crafting Yiddish Poetry with Osian Evans Sharma

Join us for a creative-critical exploration of Yiddish poetry, where language, history and the imagination meet. We will study the works of great poets, and take inspiration from them to create new works. Our journey will take us through traditional verse as well as avant-garde experimentation, covering sound poetry, Oulipo constraints and multilingual wordplay.

This course is designed for students who have already studied Yiddish for a term (or equivalent), and for speakers who can read and understand basic Yiddish, but it can be enjoyed by speakers of all levels looking to grow their Yiddish creativity.

By the end of the six-week course, students will have a deeper appreciation for poetic craft in Yiddish, and develop a poem of their own. All materials will be provided by the instructor. (Transliteration of texts will be available upon request.)

When: Tuesdays, October 21 – November 25, 2025, 1–2 p.m.

Where: Online via Zoom

Cost:

Early Bird: $150 all 6 weeks or $25 for a 60-minute online class (early bird, if paid before Tuesday, October 14, 2025)

Student Pricing (Upload ID): $150 all 6 weeks or $25 for a 60-minute online class

Regular Pricing: $180 all 6 weeks or $30 for a 60-minute online class

Osian (Oshn) Evans Sharma is a Yiddish teacher from the UK. He has studied Yiddish at University College London, and courses in Tel Aviv, Berlin and Paris. He has led Yiddish poetry courses online for Babel’s Blessing Language School and in-person workshops at the Shtetl Berlin Festival, the Maison de la Culture Yiddish and the Yiddish Sof-Vokh UK, which he also helps to organise. He teaches at the summer programme ‘Ot Azoy’ and recently completed a pedagogy fellowship at the Yiddish Book Center (Amherst, MA).

From Verse to Voice: A Workshop in Yiddish Poetry with Osian Evans Sharma

Discover the beauty and creativity of Yiddish poetry. Together we’ll read great poets, experiment with sound and wordplay, and craft poems of our own. No prior experience beyond basic reading is needed – just curiosity and imagination.

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