Ruth Panofsky, a writer, literary scholar, and professor of English at Toronto Metropolitan University, sits down with host Jonathan Slater to examine the making of renowned Canadian Jewish writer Helen Weinzweig’s seminal 1989 short story “My Mother’s Luck.” Working with material from Weinzweig’s estate and the author’s papers at the University of Toronto’s Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Ruth traces the story’s evolution and examines Weinzweig’s writing process in volume 40 of Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes. Ruth and Jonathan chat about how a scholar navigates the archive of a writer, Weinzweig’s fascination with biography and her distinctive authorial voice, and her legacy as a Canadian Jewish woman writer. 

Click here to read Ruth’s essay, along with recently unearthed early drafts of “My Mother’s Luck.” The entire volume is free to read on our website. 

This episode was produced and edited by Theadora Draper. Original music is by J. K. Bradley. Our executive producers are Joshua Tapper and David Koffman.  

Please visit the website of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies to learn more about its work, how it supports the research and study of Canadian Jewish life, and how you can contribute. The entire catalogue of Canadian Jewish Studies/ Études juives canadiennes, an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal devoted to original scholarship that illuminates any and all aspects of the Canadian Jewish experience, is free to read online. The Association for Canadian Jewish Studies is based at the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University, in Toronto, ON. 

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