Deena Metzger

Writer, poet and healer who grew up in a Yiddish literary family in Sea Gate during World War II

Interviewer:
Interviewee:
Deena Metzger
Interview Date:
August 10, 2017

Languages

Deena Metzger is a writer, poet and healer who was born in Brighton Beach in 1936, moved to Sea Gate when she was three, and went to school in Coney Island. "The land, the water, the sea were formative characters in my life," she says. "When I was young I believed that one learned to write by walking. As I got older, I trained myself in observation."

Her first language was Yiddish, which she describes as having a "deep relationship to soul."  Deena recounts the influence of her father, Arnold Posy, a Yiddish writer and kabbalist, and her mother, Bella Posy. Their involvement in political, literary and spiritual activities were a model for her lifelong engagement with the world.  She recalls how growing up during World War II affected her and her family. Deena Metzger lives at the edge of a state park in Topanga, California,  where she conducts writing circles and workshops. Her latest work is a novel titled A Rain of Night Birds.