One of the three founding fathers of Yiddish literature, "I.L. Peretz stands at the intellectual center of Yiddish culture and literature. Born in Poland he was exposed . . . to that conflict of ideas and impulses which was to dominate his . . . life as a writer and intellectual leader: the conflict between traditionalism as embodied in a powerful Hasidic inheritance, and modernism, the new trend of secular-progressivist thought that was beginning to sweep through the world of East European Jewry" (Irving Howe, A Treasury of Yiddish Stories). His work has had a significant influence on many Jewish writers in Yiddish, especially Sholem Asch. Peretz wrote short stories, plays, and essays. A… bibliography of translations of Peretz's works into English was compiled by Uriel Weinreich and appeared in The Field of Yiddish. Unfortunately, many important Peretz translations are now out of print.