A.M. Klein certainly had an interesting life. Born in February 1909, Klein was a poet, journalist, novelist, short story writer and lawyer. However, he is best-known for his poetry. Some of his most-famous poems include: "Out of the Pulver and the Polished Lens," "Heirloom," "For the Sisters of the Hotel Dieu," "Political Meeting," "The Mountain," and "The Elegy." Klein's Jewish identity informed much of his works (particularly his poems, some of the most famous of which were written about things like the Holocaust and compiled in his first volume of poetry, Hath Not a Jew).
Interestingly, Klein's work rose to prominence during and shortly after WWII, particularly with his aforementioned works on his Jewish identity and the Holocaust. However, his crowning achievement came in 1948 with the release of The Rocking Chair and Other Poems. Because of the collection, Klein won a Govenor's General Award.
For much of his career, Klein's work was widely loved and well-reviewed. The Canadian Encyclopedia summed up Klein beautifully: "Klein has rightly been called the 'first contributor of authentic Jewish poetry to the English language.' His writings articulate the feelings of a generation that witnessed the destruction of European Jewry and the fulfillment of the Zionist dream."
