Amir Or
Encyclopedia
Amir Or is an Israel
i editor, translator and award-winning poet whose works have been published in more than 30 languages.
He is the author of seven volumes of poetry as of late 2006, and his latest book in Hebrew, The Song of Tahira (2001
) is a fictional epic in metered prose.
Individual poems by Amir Or have been published in Arabic, Armenian, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Macedonian, Malayalam, Polish, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish.
, and besides other jobs he has worked as a shepherd, builder and restaurateur. He studied philosophy and comparative religion at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he later lectured on Ancient Greek Religion. He has published essays on poetry, classics and religious studies, and has taught poetry in universities in Israel, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
In 1990 he founded "Helicon Society, Israel" and since then he has been Editor-in-Chief of Helicon's journal and series of poetry books. In 1993 he set up the Arabic-Hebrew Helicon Poetry School. Or has also edited other literary journals and several anthologies of Hebrew verse in European languages. He has founded and directed the Sha’ar International Poetry Festival, and is national coordinator of the U.N.-sponsored Poets for Peace.
(original Hebrew-language poetry category)and a Fulbright Award; as well as Fellowships at the University of Iowa, the Jewish-Hebrew Centre of the University of Oxford, and the Heinrich Boll Foundation, among others. For his translations he received the Honorary Prize of the Israeli Minister of Culture.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i editor, translator and award-winning poet whose works have been published in more than 30 languages.
He is the author of seven volumes of poetry as of late 2006, and his latest book in Hebrew, The Song of Tahira (2001
2000 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Griffin Poetry Prize is established, with one award given each year for the best work by a Canadian poet and one award given for best work in the English language internationally.* February —...
) is a fictional epic in metered prose.
Individual poems by Amir Or have been published in Arabic, Armenian, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Macedonian, Malayalam, Polish, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish.
Biography
Or was born in Tel AvivTel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, and besides other jobs he has worked as a shepherd, builder and restaurateur. He studied philosophy and comparative religion at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he later lectured on Ancient Greek Religion. He has published essays on poetry, classics and religious studies, and has taught poetry in universities in Israel, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
In 1990 he founded "Helicon Society, Israel" and since then he has been Editor-in-Chief of Helicon's journal and series of poetry books. In 1993 he set up the Arabic-Hebrew Helicon Poetry School. Or has also edited other literary journals and several anthologies of Hebrew verse in European languages. He has founded and directed the Sha’ar International Poetry Festival, and is national coordinator of the U.N.-sponsored Poets for Peace.
Awards and recognition
For his poetry he has been awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize, the Bernstein PrizeBernstein Prize
The Bernstein Prize is an annual Israeli literary award for writers 50 years of age and younger. The prize is awarded by the Bernstein Foundation, named after Mordechai Bernstein, who left money in his estate to establish a foundation in order to encourage young Hebrew writers...
(original Hebrew-language poetry category)and a Fulbright Award; as well as Fellowships at the University of Iowa, the Jewish-Hebrew Centre of the University of Oxford, and the Heinrich Boll Foundation, among others. For his translations he received the Honorary Prize of the Israeli Minister of Culture.
In Hebrew
- HaHaya SheBalev (The Animal in the Heart). Keshev, 2010
- Muzeion Hazman (The Museum of Time). Ha-kibbutz Ha-meuchad, 2007
- Shir Tahira (The Song of Tahira). Xargol, 2001.
- Yom (Day). Ha-kibbutz Ha-meuchad & Tag, 1998.
- Shir (Poem). Ha-kibbutz Ha-meuchad, 1996.
- Kakha (So!). Ha-kibbutz Ha-meuchad, 1995.
- Pidyon ha-met. (Ransoming The Dead), Helicon-Bitan, 1994.
- Panim (Faces). Am Oved, 1991.
- Ani mabbit me-‛eyney ha-qofim (I Look Through The Monkeys’ Eyes). Eqed, 1987.
Books translated into other languages
- Day — into English by Fiona SampsonFiona Sampson-Life :Born in London, Sampson grew up in the West Country, on the west coast of Wales and in Gloucestershire. She was educated at the Royal Academy of Music, and following a brief career as a concert violinist, studied at Oxford University, where she won the Newdigate Prize...
, (Dedalus, Dublin, 20062006 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* French public notary Patrick Huet unveils Pieces of Hope to the Echo of the World in Lyon...
) - Poem — into English by Fiona SampsonFiona Sampson-Life :Born in London, Sampson grew up in the West Country, on the west coast of Wales and in Gloucestershire. She was educated at the Royal Academy of Music, and following a brief career as a concert violinist, studied at Oxford University, where she won the Newdigate Prize...
, (Dedalus, Dublin 20042004 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* April 1 — Foetry.com Web site is launched for the announced purpose of "Exposing fraudulent contests. Tracking the sycophants...
, Romanian and Polish editions 20062006 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* French public notary Patrick Huet unveils Pieces of Hope to the Echo of the World in Lyon...
) - Language Says — into English (Chattanooga, PM publications, Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States, 20012001 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Immediately after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, W. H...
) - Drowning, He Breaths Living Water — into Macedonian (Davej se, disam ziva voda: The Pleiades Series of Struga Poetry Festival, 20002000 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Griffin Poetry Prize is established, with one award given each year for the best work by a Canadian poet and one award given for best work in the English language internationally.* February —...
) - Miracle — English/Hebrew bilingual edition (Poetry Ireland, Dublin, 19981998 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Samizdat poetry magazine founded in Chicago .* Skanky Possum poetry magazine founded in Austin, Texas....
) - Poetry is a Criminal Girl — into Arabic (As-sha‛ru Fattatu l-Mujrimin; Paris, Faradis publishers, 19951995 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* February 16 — Announcement that 300 poems by S.T...
)
His translations into Hebrew
- The Gospel of Thomas (1992),
- Limb-Loosening Desire (An Anthology of Erotic Greek Poetry 1993) and
- Stories From The MahabharataMahabharataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
(1998) - To a Woman by Shuntaro Tanikawa (2000, with Akiko Takahashi)
External links
- http://www.amiror.co.il/ AMIR OR SITE
- http://www.poetrylifeandtimes.com/poetnewsFeb01.html Poetry Life & Times Web site: "Israeli Poet Amir Or: A Conversation About Language, Myth, and the Soul" by Lynn Levin
- http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2003/5/Hebrew%20Poetry%20in%20the%20New%20Millennium Article by Amir Or, "Hebrew Poetry in the New Millennium" at Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site
- http://israel.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=3103&x=1 Article on Or's poetry by Ariel Hirschfeld, "On the connection between ‘I’ and ‘you’ and the development of the poet from one book to the next"
- http://israel.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=3088 Article on Or's poem, "A Glass of Beer", by Rami Saari, "I step into your shoes and become a part of you"
Poetry online
- http://www.motherbird.com/morningpr.html "Shaharit (Morning Prayer)"
- http://www.motherbird.com/AmirOr.html#poem "POEM" (translated from Hebrew by Helena Berg)
- http://www.motherbird.com/AmirOr2.html "POEM" (long version; translated from Hebrew by Helena Berg)
- http://www.motherbird.com/AmirOr.html#barb "The Barbarians (Round Two)" (translated by Vivian Eden)
- http://www.motherbird.com/AmirOr.html#blue "Blue Job" (translated by Vivian Eden)
- http://www.motherbird.com/AmirOr.html#glass "A Glass of Beer"
- http://www.motherbird.com/AmirOr.html#epit "Epitaph" (translated by Vivian Eden)
- http://www.motherbird.com/AmirOr.html#eyes "I Look Through the Monkeys’ Eyes" (translated by Irit Sela)
- http://www.traktor.cz/trafika/amiror.html [untitled] (first line: "There’s a speed in which things calm down.")