Chana Bloch (1940-2017) was a poet, translator, scholar, and teacher. She was the author of five books of poems, six books of translation from Hebrew poetry, ancient and contemporary, and a critical study of George Herbert. Bloch was professor emerita of English literature and creative writing at Mills College, where she taught for many years and directed the creative writing program. She lived in Berkeley, California.

Other poems by Chana Bloch in Verse Daily:
October 27, 2017:   "The Family" "Inside the Russian woman there's..."
January 27, 2015:   "The Joins" "What's between us..."
October 11, 2009:   "Veni Vidi" "The world / is about to be created...."

Books by Chana Bloch:

Other poems on the web by Chana Bloch:
Twenty-four poems
Six poems
"I, May I Rest in Peace"
Twelve poems
Two poems
"Potato Eaters"
Two poems
Three poems
Three poems
Two poems

Chana Bloch's Website.

Chana Bloch According to Wikipedia.

About The Moon is Almost Full:

"'Under siege, I am still a kingdom,' writes Chana Bloch in this signal, singing, singeing collection of poems. Each page verifies the beauty and scope and surge of a life both extraordinary and daily, embraced not in spite of our mortality, but because of it."
—Jane Hirshfield

"Chana Bloch insists on life. Inviting us to the view from mortality's edge, taking us to 'the intersection of self and door,' she can experience 'a joy so acute it startles me' even in the cancer ward. For all of us who have 'looked down a well so deep / you couldn't see bottom,' she teaches us to look around: A sparrow lands on a springy stalk, rides it fluently to the ground. The deer come up close and present their ears."
—Alicia Ostriker

"These poems, fashioned with compact power and formal elegance, are a luminous demonstration of how poetry can be the vehicle for both confronting our darkest fears and yet continuing to affirm the preciousness of life. The Moon is Almost Full is the crowning achievement of Chana Bloch's distinguished career as a poet."
—Robert Alter