OTTAWA – Reading Inspirations of Israel (Xlibris Publishing Corp., USA, May 2008, 170 pages) is like taking a long, meandering journey through Jewish history. The poetry collection, the first in book form by Ottawa-born, full-time poet and playwright Brandon Marlon, covers many aspects of the Israel story, from A wondering Aramean from Ur, to the modern state, where Love Is My Nationality.” Marlon, 28, explained that his work “considers the peoplehood of the Jews, from their origin as Hebrew clans and their development as wandering Israelites, to their modern incarnation as a community split along religious and geographic lines.”

Marlon, who had an Orthodox upbringing, and is an alumnus of the MASA-affiliated WUJS Israel Arts program, said his parents wanted him to be a teacher for stability, but he wasn’t drawn to it like he was to writing. As a poet and playwright, he was influenced by several greats, notably Shakespeare, Judah Halevi, Solomon ibn Gavirol and Howard Fast.

“Shakespeare is the master of the English language,” said Marlon, “and the Jewish poets of medieval-era Spain were soulful sentimentalists who knew the Torah and Jewish tradition inside out. Fast is a genius novelist.”

For such a small book, Inspirations takes on a wide range of topics and concepts: religion, politics, history, love, geography and culture, all seen “through the eyes of a Jew born in the Diaspora,” he said, adding that he has lived in Israel for only about a year.
What emanates from almost all of his poems is Marlon’s deep love of Israel, of Hashem, and of mankind. His faith that love will conquer all – Hatred has no passport – seems almost childlike, except that his poetry is intelligent and mature, revealing an exceptionally brilliant man.    

The book is divided into eight sections – history, tradition, admonition, redemption, landscape, Jerusalem, romance and prayer.

Like all good poetry, Marlon’s book cannot be absorbed like a novel, all at once. Each poem requires reflection and rereading.

Marlon graduated in 2000 from the University of Toronto with a bachelor’s degree in drama. He made aliyah in 2007. He now lives in Jerusalem, much closer to Sderot, the Israeli town that won his heart several years ago.

“Before I left to live in Israel I organized Footprints for the Ottawa Jewish community last October,” he told the Jewish Tribune. “It was about the Jewish refugees from Arab lands and was very well received. All the proceeds benefited Sderot through emergency support organizations such as Magen David Adom.”

Marlon won the 2007 Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition for a play he wrote about the Second Intifada called The Bleeding Season.  It was recently presented at Toronto’s Miles Nadal JCC.

Marlon’s second poetry volume on themes of Judaism and Israel will be released in Spring 2009 from Canadian publisher Bayeux Arts.