Meir Wieseltier
Encyclopedia
Meir Wieseltier is a prize-winning Israel
i poet and translator.
. In 1955, he moved to Tel Aviv, where he has lived ever since. He published his first poems at the age of eighteen. He studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
. In the early 1960s, he joined a group known as the Tel Aviv Poets. He was co-founder and co-editor of the literary magazine Siman Kriya, and a poetry editor for the Am Oved
publishing house.
, Charles Dickens
, E.M. Forster and Malcolm Lowry
. Wieseltier is a nonconformist, employing ironic imagery and a sarcastic, despairing tone. He often writes in the first person, assuming the role of a moralist searching for values in the midst of chaos. Wieseltier has written powerful poems of social and political protest in Israel. His voice is alternately anarchic and involved, angry and caring, trenchant and lyric.
Wieseltier is a poet in residence at the University of Haifa
.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i poet and translator.
Biography
Meir Wieseltier was born in Moscow in 1941, shortly before the German invasion of Russia. He was taken to Novosibirsk in southwestern Siberia by his mother and two older sisters. His father was killed while serving in the Red Army in Leningrad. After two years in Poland, Germany and France, the family immigrated to Israel. Wieseltier grew up in NetanyaNetanya
Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...
. In 1955, he moved to Tel Aviv, where he has lived ever since. He published his first poems at the age of eighteen. He studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
. In the early 1960s, he joined a group known as the Tel Aviv Poets. He was co-founder and co-editor of the literary magazine Siman Kriya, and a poetry editor for the Am Oved
Am Oved
-History:Am Oved was founded in 1942 by Berl Katznelson, who was its first Editor in Chief.It was created as an organ of the Histadrut, Israel's federation of Labor, with a goal of publishing books that would "meet the spiritual needs of the working public." Its most well-known series is "Sifriyah...
publishing house.
Literary career
Wieseltier has published 13 volumes of verse. He has translated English, French and Russian poetry into Hebrew. His translations include four of Shakespeare's tragedies, as well as novels by Virginia WoolfVirginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
, Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, E.M. Forster and Malcolm Lowry
Malcolm Lowry
Clarence Malcolm Lowry was an English poet and novelist who was best known for his novel Under the Volcano, which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list.-Biography:...
. Wieseltier is a nonconformist, employing ironic imagery and a sarcastic, despairing tone. He often writes in the first person, assuming the role of a moralist searching for values in the midst of chaos. Wieseltier has written powerful poems of social and political protest in Israel. His voice is alternately anarchic and involved, angry and caring, trenchant and lyric.
Wieseltier is a poet in residence at the University of Haifa
University of Haifa
The University of Haifa is a university in Haifa, Israel.The University of Haifa was founded in 1963 by Haifa mayor Abba Hushi, to operate under the academic auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
.
Awards
Among the many awards received by Wieseltier are the following:- In 1994, Wieseltier was the co-recipient (jointly with Hanoch LevinHanoch LevinHanoch Levin , was a prominent Israeli dramatist. He was also a theater director, an author and a poet, but he is best known for his plays.- Early life :...
) of the Bialik PrizeBialik PrizeThe Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Hayyim Nahman Bialik. There are two separate prizes, one specifically for "Literature", which is in the field of fiction,...
for literatureHebrew literatureHebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern writings in the Hebrew language. It is one of the primary forms of Jewish literature, though there have been cases of literature written in Hebrew by non-Jews...
.
- In 2000, he received the Israel PrizeIsrael PrizeThe Israel Prize is an award handed out by the State of Israel and is largely regarded as the state's highest honor. It is presented annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state ceremony in Jerusalem, in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Knesset chairperson, and the...
, for literature and poetry.
Published works
- Shirim Iti'im (Slow Poems), 2000
- Merudim Vesonatot (Merudim and Sonnets), 2009
- Perek Alef, Perek Beit (Chapter 1, Chapter 2), 1967
- Meah Shirim (100 Poems), 1969
- Kakh (Take It), 1973
- Davar Optimi, Asiyat Shirim (Something Optimistic, The Making of a Poem), 1976
- Pnim Vahutz (Interior and Exterior), 1977
- Motzah El Ha-Yam (Exit into the Sea), 1981
- Kitzur Shnot Hashishim (The Concise Sixties) 1984
- Ee Yevani (Greek Island) 1985
- Michtavim Veshirim Aherim (Letters and other poems) 1986
- Makhsan (Storehouse), 1994 [Mahsan]
- The Flower of Anarchy, 2003, ISBN 978-0-5202-3552-6
External links
- Biography on the Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature
- http://www.huc.edu/faculty/faculty/pubs/nash_poetry_0202.shtmlGod and Man in the Poetry of Meir Wieseltier, Speech on the occasion of Wieseltier's visit to Hebrew Union CollegeHebrew Union CollegeThe Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the oldest extant Jewish seminary in the Americas and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism.HUC-JIR has campuses in Cincinnati, New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem.The Jerusalem...
, Stanley Nash] - The Flag Parade A poem by Wieseltier published in English by The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
- http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/1118239.htmlOf Rebels, Wretches, Mongols and Kreplach, a tribute to Meir Wieseltier, Natan Zach, HaaretzHaaretzHaaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
]