JEWISH POETS & LYRICISTS

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POETS
 LYRICISTS
  • Dannie Abse
  • Margarita Aliger
  • Peter Altenberg
  • A. Alvarez
  • Yehuda Amichai
  • Joseph Auslander, US Poet Laureate, 1937-1941
  • Paul Auster
  • Eduard Bagritskii
  • Chaim Nachman Bialik
  • Biblical Poets, (Psalms of David, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Songs...)
  • Joseph Brodsky, 1987 Nobel Prize in Literature; US Poet Laureate, 1991-1992
  • Paul Celan
  • Sasha Cherny
  • Korney Chukovsky 1
  • Leonard Cohen
  • Carl Dennis, 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
  • Babette Deutsch
  • Kenneth Flexner Fearing
  • Lawrence Ferlinghetti 2
  • Edmond Fleg
  • Solomon Ibn Gabirol (Avicebron)
  • Juan Gelman, 2007 Cervantes Prize
  • Allen Ginsberg
  • Louise Glück, 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, 2001 Bollingen Prize; US Poet Laureate, 2003-2004
  • Jorie Graham, 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
  • Allen Grossman, 2009 Bollingen Prize
  • Anthony Hecht, 1968 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, 1983 Bollingen Prize; US Poet Laureate, 1982-1984
  • Heinrich Heine
  • Paul Heyse 3, 1910 Nobel Prize in Literature
  • Daniel Hoffman, US Poet Laureate, 1973-1974
  • John Hollander, 1983 Bollingen Prize
  • Richard Howard, 1970 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
  • David Ignatow, 1977 Bollingen Prize
  • Edmond Jabès
  • Max Jacob
  • Judah Halevi
  • Gustave Kahn
  • Vladislav Khodasevich 4
  • Jozef Kiss
  • Kenneth Koch, 1995 Bollingen Prize
  • Gertrud Kolmar
  • Naum Korzhavin
  • Maxine Kumin, 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; US Poet Laureate, 1981-1982
  • Stanley Kunitz, 1959 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, 1987 Bollingen Prize; US Poet Laureate, 1974-1976, 2000-2001
  • Emilia Bassano Lanier 5
  • Else Lasker-Schüller
  • Irving Layton
  • Emma Lazarus, "The New Colossus" (poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty)
  • Stanislaw Lec
  • Bolisław Leśmian
  • Denise Levertov 6
  • Philip Levine, 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
  • Osip Mandelstam
  • Samuel Marshak
  • Catulle Mendès
  • Lisel Mueller 7, 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
  • Howard Nemerov, 1978 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, 1981 Bollingen Prize; US Poet Laureate, 1963-1964, 1988-1990
  • George Oppen, 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
  • Grace Paley
  • Boris Pasternak, 1958 Nobel Prize in Literature
  • Fernando Pessoa 8
  • Marge Piercy
  • Robert Pinsky, US Poet Laureate, 1997-2000
  • Carl Rakosi
  • Charles Reznikoff
  • Adrienne Rich 9, 2003 Bollingen Prize
  • Laura Riding, 1991 Bollingen Prize
  • Isaac Rosenberg
  • Muriel Rukeyser
  • Umberto Saba 10
  • Nelly Sachs, 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature
  • David Samoilov
  • Siegfried Sassoon 11
  • Philip Schultz, 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
  • Delmore Schwartz,1960 Bollingen Prize
  • Hannah Senesh (Szenes)
  • Karl Shapiro, 1945 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, 1969 Bollingen Prize; US Poet Laureate, 1946-1947
  • Louis Simpson 12, 1964 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
  • Boris Slutskii
  • André Spire
  • Mark Strand, 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, 1993 Bollingen Prize; US Poet Laureate, 1990-1991
  • Mikhail Svetlov
  • Saul Tchernichowsky
  • Julian Tuwim
  • Tristan Tzara
  • Louis Untermeyer, US Poet Laureate, 1961-1963
  • Claude Vigée
  • Miriam Dworkin Waddington
  • C. K. Williams, 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
  • Marya Zaturenska 13, 1938 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
  • Louis Zukofsky
NOTES
1. Jewish father, non-Jewish mother; see http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_c.htm.
2. Jewish mother (née Mendès-Monsanto), non-Jewish father; see, e.g.,
http://audiofreemp3books.com/authors/ferlinghetti-lawrence.html#.
3. Jewish mother, non-Jewish father.
4. Jewish mother, non-Jewish father.
5. Half-Jewish daughter of the Bassano family of Venetian converso musicians who were brought to England by Henry VIII.  Lanier was a proto-feminist and the first English woman to publish a volume of poetry: Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum.  She is thought by some to be the "Dark Lady" of the Shakespearean sonnets.  [The appearance of characters named "Bassanio" and "Emilia" (who is given lines bemoaning the inferior status of women) in Shakespeare's two Venetian plays (The Merchant of Venice and Othello, respectively)  is cited as evidence for this.]  See The Poems of Shakespeare's Dark Lady: Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum, by Emilia Lanier; Introduction by A. L. Rowse (Jonathan Cape, London, 1978).  See also Jews in the Court.
6. Jewish father, non-Jewish mother.
7. Jewish father.
8. Jewish ancestry (degree unclear).
9. Jewish father, non-Jewish mother.
10. Jewish mother, non-Jewish father.
11. Jewish father, non-Jewish mother.
12. Jewish mother, non-Jewish father.  Works by Louis Simpson, Anthony Hecht, Richard Howard, Philip Levine, Jorie Graham, and C. K. Williams were among those included in a special edition of the Princeton University Library Chronicle (Vol. LXIII, 1-2, Autumn 2001 - Winter 2002) that was devoted to the work of American Jewish writers.
13. Not widely known to have been Jewish, but according to her son Patrick Gregory's introduction to The Diaries of Marya Zaturenska, edited by Mary Beth Hinton (Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, NY, 2002, p. xvii), "her parents were Jewish."

    
     Musicals         Operas        "Songs"
  • Lee Adams, Bye Bye Birdie, "Once Upon a Time," "Lot of Livin' to Do," "Put on a Happy Face"
  • Lynn Ahrens, Ragtime
  • Howard Ashman, Beauty and the Beast
  • Lionel Bart, Oliver!, "Where Is Love?" "As Long As He Needs Me" 
  • Alan and Marilyn Bergman, "The Windmills of Your Mind," "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" "The Way We Were," "It Might Be You," "Summer Me, Winter Me," "You Must Believe in Spring," "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?"
  • Irving Berlin, Annie Get Your Gun, "Always," "Blue Skies," "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep," "They Say It's Wonderful," "How Deep Is the Ocean?"
  • Don Black, Sunset Boulevard, "Born Free," "Diamonds Are Forever"
  • Alain Boublil, Miss Saigon, Martin Guerre, Les Misérables
  • Irving Caesar, "Swanee," "Crazy Rhythm," "Tea for Two"
  • Sammy Cahn, "Call Me Irresponsible," "Come Fly with Me," "I Should Care," "I Believe," "The Second Time Around," "September of My Years," "Time After Time"
  • Saul Chaplin, "Anniversary Song"
  • Martin Charnin, Annie, "Tomorrow," "I Do Not Know a Day I Did Not Love You" 
  • Betty Comden, On the Town,"Comes Once in a Lifetime," "Bells Are Ringing," "Make Someone Happy," "Just in Time," "The Party's Over"
  • Hal David, Promises, Promises, "Alfie," "Windows of the World," "The April Fools," "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head," "What the World Needs Now is Love"
  • Joe Darion, Man of La Mancha, "The Impossible Dream"
  • Howard Dietz, "You and the Night and the Music," "Dancing in the Dark"
  • Al Dubin, 42nd Street, "Lullaby of Broadway," "I Only Have Eyes for You," "Anniversary Waltz"
  • Bob Dylan, "The Times They Are a-Changin'," "Blowin' in the Wind"
  • Fred Ebb, Cabaret, Zorba, "Theme from New York, New York," "And All That Jazz," "My Coloring Book"
  • Edward Eliscu, "More Than You Know," "Without a Song"
  • Dorothy Fields, Sweet Charity, Up in Central Park, "Make the Man Love Me," "The Way You Look Tonight," "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," "It's Not Where You Start"
  • Ira Gershwin, Of Thee I Sing, Strike Up the Band, Porgy and Bess, "Summertime," "Someone to Watch Over Me," "The Man I Love," "Long Ago and Far Away," "But Not For Me," "Embraceable You," "A Foggy Day in London Town," "I Loves You Porgy," "Love Is Here to Stay," "It Ain't Necessarily So," "The Man That Got Away," "'S Wonderful" 
  • Norman Gimbel, "Different Worlds," "I Got a Name," "It Goes Like It Goes," "Watch What Happens," "I Will Wait For You," "The Girl From Ipanema," "Canadian Sunset"
  • Gerry Goffin, "Do You Know Where You're Going To?" "Up on the Roof"
  • Mack Gordon, "There Will Never Be Another You," "Goodnight, My Love"
  • Adolph Green, On the Town "Comes Once in a Lifetime," "Bells Are Ringing," "Make Someone Happy," "Just in Time," "The Party's Over"
  • Oscar Hammerstein II 1,  Showboat, Carousel, Oklahoma!, Flower Drum Song, The King and I, South Pacific, The Sound of Music, "All the Things You Are," "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man," "Ol' Man River," "Climb Ev'ry Mountain," "Edelweiss," "My Favorite Things," "I Have Dreamed," "If I Loved You," "It Might As Well Be Spring," "This Nearly Was Mine," "We Kiss in a Shadow," "You'll Never Walk Alone," "Younger Than Springtime," "The Last Time I Saw Paris"   
  • E. Y. Harburg, Finian's Rainbow, The Wizard of Oz, "Over the Rainbow," "Old Devil Moon," "It's Only a Paper Moon," "April in Paris," "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?"
  • Sheldon Harnick, Fiddler on the Roof, Fiorello!, "Sunrise, Sunset"
  • Lorenz Hart, Babes in Arms, The Boys from Syracuse, Pal Joey, "My Funny Valentine," "Bewitched," "Blue Moon," "Where or When," "Spring is Here"
  • Jerry Herman, Hello, Dolly, Mame, La Cage Aux Folles, "If He Walked into My Life," "Before the Parade Passes By"
  • Billy Joel, "Just the Way You Are," "New York State of Mind"
  • Irving Kahal, "I'll Be Seeing You," "I Can Dream, Can't I?"
  • Gus Kahn, "You Stepped Out of a Dream," "Broken Hearted Melody," "It Had to Be You," "I'll See You in My Dreams"
  • Bert Kalmar, "I Want to Be Loved by You," "Who's Sorry Now," "Three Little Words"
  • Carole King, "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" "Up on the Roof," "Tapestry," "Crying in the Rain," "You've Got a Friend," "So Far Away"
  • Edward Kleban, A Chorus Line, "What I Did for Love," "One"
  • Herbert Kretzmer, Les Misérables, "Bring Him Home"
  • Jack Lawrence, "All or Nothing at All," "Tenderly"
  • Carolyn Leigh, "Witchcraft," "Young at Heart," "I Walk a Little Faster"
  • Alan Jay Lerner, Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, Gigi, Camelot, My Fair Lady, "Almost Like Being in Love," "Come to Me, Bend to Me," "I Could Have Danced All Night," "On the Street Where You Live," "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face,"  "On a Clear Day," "I Talk to the Trees," "They Call the Wind Maria," "What Did I Have That I Don't Have," "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?" "If Ever I Would Leave You"
  • Frank Loesser, Guys and Dolls, "I'll Know," "I've Never Been in Love Before," "I Believe in You," "Baby, It's Cold Outside,"  "Joey, Joey, Joey," "Luck Be a Lady Tonight," "Wonderful Copenhagen"
  • Bob Merrill, Carnival!, Funny Girl, "People," "Love Makes the World Go 'Round," "Don't Rain on My Parade"
  • Randy Newman, "I Think It's Going to Rain Today"
  • Mitchell Parish, "Stardust," "Moonlight Serenade," "Deep Purple," "Sophisticated Lady"
  • Lorenzo da Ponte, Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), Cosí fan tutte [Mozart Librettos]
  • Leo Robin, "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," "Thanks for the Memory," "Love Is Just Around the Corner"
  • Carole Bayer Sager, They're Playing Our Song "Come In From the Rain," "Don't Cry Out Loud," "The Prayer," "Looking Through the Eyes of Love"
  • Stephen Schwartz, Godspell, Pippin, "Day by Day," "Colors of the Wind" 
  • Paul Simon, "59th Street Bridge Song," "The Boxer," "Sounds of Silence," "Homeward Bound," "Mrs. Robinson," "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
  • Stephen Sondheim, West Side Story, Do I Hear a Waltz?, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, Follies, Gypsy, "Tonight," "Maria," "One Hand, One Heart," "Being Alive," "Something's Coming," "Somewhere," "Send in the Clowns," "Do I Hear a Waltz?"
  • Michael Stewart, Barnum, "The Colors of My Life"
  • Paul Francis Webster, "Love is a Many Splendored Thing," "The Shadow of Your Smile," "Somewhere My Love," "The Twelfth of Never"
  • Jack Yellen, "Happy Days Are Here Again," "My Yiddishe Mama," "Ain't She Sweet?"
  • Hy Zaret, "Unchained Melody"
  • David Zippel, The Goodbye Girl, City of Angels


See also: 
"Hebrew Melodies" (Songs by Jewish Songwriters) 
Jewish-Composed Broadway and Hollywood Musicals
Academy Award for Best Original Song
Tony Award for Best Musical
Tony Award for Best Original Score of a Musical
Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical



NOTES
1. Jewish father, non-Jewish mother.
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