Exploring Israeli literature in English translation. Host Marcela Sulak takes you through Israel’s literary countryside, cityscapes, and psychological terrain, and the lives of the people who create it.
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Israeli poetry's brightest flame
Tonight is Lag B'Omer, the Jewish holiday of light celebrated by lighting bonfires. Here's a glimpse of poet Agi Mishol's very own Lag B'Omer bonfire:
You piss on my love as if
it were a bonfire, extinguishing it
ember by ember with the arrogance
of the perfect crime...
One of Israel's most popular living poets, Agi Mishol's work has been described thus by literary scholar Dan Miron:
In contemporary Israeli poetry, intense, white flames appear against the dark, burning background, whose smoke is greater than the fire… Agi Mishol’s poetry is one of the brightest of these flames.
Texts:
“Sermon at Latrun” translated by Joanna Chen
“Wax Flowers” translated by Joanna Chen
Further Reading: Look There, translated by Lisa Katz, Graywolf Press, St. Paul, MN, 2006
Music:
Rivka Zohar - Rabi Akivah (lyrics by Dahlia Ravikovitch)
Maya Mishol - Rakavet Tachana