In Memoriam: Chana Bloch, 1940-2017

Chana Bloch, acclaimed poet and professor emerita of English literature at Scripps College in Claremont, California, died on May 19. She was 77 years old and had suffered from cancer.

The daughter of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, Dr. Bloch was a graduate of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. She earned a master’s degree in Judaic studies and English literature at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Bloch joined the faculty at Scripps College in 1973 and taught there for 32 years. At Scripps, she was the director of the creative writing program.

Professor Bloch was the author of five collections of poetry including Swimming in the Rain: New and Selected Poems, 1980-2015 (Autumn House, 2015). A sixth collection will be published this fall.