Poems written in response to the moral and psychological devastation of 9/11 were a major inspiration for Susan H. Case's recently published poetry chapbook, The Scottish Cafe (ISBN 0-9700277-2-9). Slapering Hol Press, a well-respected small press located in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., published the collection.
Case's writing also drew on her Jewish roots and a famed pre-World War cafe in Lvov (formerly Poland, but now Ukraine). The Scottish Cafe was a favorite gathering place for mathematicians and thinkers. Many of these figures were very foundational in mathematics and well-known to mathematicians. Some very important theories, particularly about geometry, were developed there.
"The reason I became interested in that particular group was because I was looking at political uncertainty and how you live during that and still have some sort of quality life," says the poet. "It evokes a time of political oppression and war, a different time, a different place."
Case's recent poems and short stories can be found in Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review; Slant; Fireweed; Ariel; Stray Dog; Jewish Women's Literary Annual; Zeek; and nycBigCityLit, among others. She is a winner of this year's Annual Salute to the Arts Poetry & Graphics Contest, judged by the well-known Illinois poet, G. E. Murray.
Libraries that have included The Scottish Cafe in their catalogues include Yivo in New York, Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority in Israel, and Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.
Susan H. Case, as Susan H. Gray, teaches at the New York Institute of Technology's Manhattan campus and has been a professor of sociology since 1983. In addition to her academic work, she has studied at the Unterberg Poetry Center. Find out more about her at http://www.susanhcase.com.
The Scottish Cafe (Slapering Hol Press, ISBN 0-9700277-2-9); Price: $ 12.00
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