Celebrating Nina Salaman's Life and Poetry

Celebrate Jewish Culture Month at Willesden Jewish Cemetery with a poetry reading honouring Nina Salaman (1877–1925), a poet, translator, leader in the British Jewish community, and committed women’s suffrage activist who is buried here.

The event will include refreshments, a reading of selected original poems alongside her Hebrew translations, and time to learn more about her life and legacy. After the reading, guests will have the opportunity to visit her grave.

Salaman is best known for her collected translations of the medieval Hebrew poet Yehudah HaLevi, published in 1924 after more than a decade of work and still widely read today. Alongside her translations, she published her own poetry, including The Voices of the Rivers, and her writing regularly appeared in The Jewish Chronicle and other Jewish publications. Through this work, she brought Hebrew poetry into English with clarity and lyricism, helping to shape Jewish cultural life in Britain in the early twentieth century.

Nina was married to Redcliffe Salaman, a scientist who pioneered the cultivation of blight-free potatoes. The two were active figures in Cambridge Hebrew Congregation where Nina became the first woman to give a sermon in an Orthodox synagogue in the UK.

At Willesden Jewish Cemetery’s House of Life, our mission is to bring Jewish history to life and to remember the lives of all our residents. We look forward to welcoming you to this thoughtful and reflective event, connecting poetry, place, and memory in a unique historic setting.

Information on what to expect when visiting a Jewish cemetery: https://www.willesdenjewishcemetery.org.uk/visitor-guidance

Free parking is available on site.

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Running from 16 May - 16 June 2026, Jewish Culture Month is a cultural coming together on a scale and depth not seen before, with more than 100 events across the country spanning food, comedy, art, architecture, fashion, music and much more. This landmark project brings together cultural institutions, community organisations, artists, chefs, performers and educators to create an accessible, vibrant and proudly public celebration of Jewish life in the UK

https://jewishculturemonth.org.uk/

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