Alicia Jo Rabins is a performer, musician, singer, composer, poet, writer, and Jewish scholar. She lives in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

, in the United States. Her use of language and words is central to her work: "Words may be the closest we get to immortality as humans. Death has no power over those words. Geography has no power over them. They transmit something beyond any one, or any community's, lifetime." She played violin for eight years in the rock-klezmer band

Golem A golem ( ; he, , gōlem) is an animated, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is entirely created from inanimate matter (usually clay or mud). The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the l ...

Biography

She got her B.A. in English and creative writing at

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

, received an M.F.A. in poetry from

Warren Wilson College Warren Wilson College (WWC) is a private liberal arts college in Swannanoa, North Carolina. It is known for its curriculum that combines academics, work, and service as every student must complete a requisite course of study, work an on-campu ...

, an M.A. in Jewish gender and women's studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and studied for two years at the

Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies () is a Jewish educational institution based in Jerusalem with programs worldwide. History Pardes was launched by Rabbi Michael Swirsky in the fall of 1972 with the support of the World Zionist Organization, ...

in Jerusalem. During the Fall 2016 session, she taught a course, "Arts and Jewish Experience: Exploring Diverse American Identities through Art", at Portland State University. In 2014, Rabins performed "A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff". She has performed at: Webster Hall, New York City (October 27, 2008); "A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff",

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decad ...

(May 2014);

University of North Carolina at Asheville The University of North Carolina Asheville (UNC Asheville, UNCA, or simply Asheville) is a public liberal arts university in Asheville, North Carolina, United States. UNC Asheville is the designated liberal arts institution in the University of N ...

(March 6, 2018); and

The Poetry Project The Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church was founded in 1966 at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery in the East Village of Manhattan by, among others, the poet and translator Paul Blackburn. It has been a crucial venue for new and experimental poetry ...

, New York City (November 26, 2018). Rabins and her work has been featured in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', ''

Literary Mama ''Literary Mama'' (LiteraryMama.com) is a U.S.-based online literary magazine focused on publishing writing about motherhood in a variety of genres. The writings found in ''Literary Mama'' challenge all types of media to rethink its narrow focus of ...

'', the Jewish Women's Archive, ''

Lilith Lilith ( ; he, לִילִית, Līlīṯ) is a female figure in Mesopotamian and Judaic mythology, alternatively the first wife of Adam and supposedly the primordial she-demon. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of Ed ...

'', ''

The Forward ''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ...

'', '' Tablet'',

Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is the primary television and radio public broadcasting network for most of the U.S. state of Oregon as well as southern Washington. OPB consists of five full-power television stations, dozens of VHF or UHF tra ...

, and more. Jo Rabins is married to bassist Aaron Hartman and has two children.

Discography

*''Sugar Shack'' (2003) * ''Girls in Trouble'' (2009) * ''Half You Half Me'' (2011) * ''Open the Ground'' (2015)

Filmography

* '' A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff: The Film''

Publications

Books

* ''Divinity School'' *''Fruit Geode''

Writings

* ''A Passover Story''

Awards

* 2015 Honickman Book Prize Winner

References

External links

*
Alicia Jo Rabins on Jewish Women's Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabins, Alicia Jo Living people Barnard College alumni Jewish Theological Seminary of America alumni Writers from Portland, Oregon Warren Wilson College alumni Jewish American writers Jewish poets American women poets Musicians from Portland, Oregon Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American poets 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American musicians 21st-century American women musicians American violinists Women violinists Klezmer musicians American punk rock musicians Women in punk