Gilah Kahn-Hoffmann
Gilah Kahn-Hoffmann moved from Montreal to Jerusalem after studying theater, literature, and communications at McGill University. Starting out as a freelance journalist, translator, writer, and editor, she became a feature writer at The Jerusalem Post and, subsequently, editor of the paper’s youth magazines. Later, during a stint as a writer at the Israel Center for the Treatment of Psychotrauma, she discovered how fulfilling it is to work for the benefit of others and moved to NGO work in East Jerusalem and the developing world. In recent years, she’s come full circle to her first loves and spends her best hours immersed in literary translation.
Have you ever experienced Imposter Syndrome?
All the time! It seems to haunt me, no matter what job I have. Whether writing an article, coordinating a project in the developing world, facilitating a coexistence workshop, or translating a novel and striving to be a faithful conduit for an author's voice…
Vacation druthers… City or rural destination? Why?
I love cities, and always want to sample the local theater, art, fashion, music and food but would always choose a city that has a lot of green space to allow for walks and wandering and time outdoors.
What do you worry about?
Everything? Climate change, the people I love, the world my children will live in, political leaders who have lost sight of their basic humanity… Meeting my deadlines…
What brings you great joy?
My boys. Trees. When I can excel at what I do. Coffee. Reading. Fresh bread and butter. Spending time with the people I love. My dog. Earrings. Seeing the people I love happy. Good wine. Theater. Film. Art. Music. The smell of honeysuckle or rain or grass or my favorite perfume. And walking. And a great night's sleep.
What piece of clothing tells the most interesting story about you?
Boots! I wear boots 365 days a year, in every season and in all weather. After recovering from a scary illness, one of the insights I reached was that I want to feel as comfortable as possible and as grounded as I can be as often as possible. And I just feel so good when I wear boots. I have to admit that I have quite the collection (but I can stop any time I want), although cowboy boots top my list.
