Fortunate exile is a collection of modern poetry by the Canadian poet Irving Layton. The poetry in this collection rips fresh tears in the memory of the holocaust. Although Layton lived in Canada, not quite in "exile" his anger at the treatment of Jewish people burst forth in a type of scar literature describing the fate of Jews during World War II.

A lot of literature, stories, poetry and memoirs appeared relatively late during the Twentieth Century, as it took Jewish people to recover from the profound trauma of the war, and European readership collectively repressed that awful period. However, as Layton lived overseas and observed from the side-line, he started publishing from as early as 1945, and, very productively had published more that 40 volumes, when Fortunate exile was published in 1987.

The poems are strong reminders of the holocaust, the pain and suffering of Jewish people. ( )