Israel in Translation

There is a strange flavor, seasoned with pomegranates and grapesfound in the desert when, without shadows, it flames;while rain rolls through the red dust of dirt trails,and it is possible to taste it in Jerusalem’s hills.

These are the opening lines of an excerpt from Avraham Sutzkever's Lider fun Togbukh (Poems From a Diary, 1974-1981), read by host Marcela Sulak.

Sutzkever was born in 1913 in today's Belarus. He was sent to the Vilnius Ghetto during WWII, from which he escaped and was flown to Russia. After the war he moved to Tel Aviv just before the founding of Israel.

He died on January 20, 2010 in Tel Aviv at the age of 96 - you can hear an unusual account of his funeral in our previous podcast. The New York Times called him "The Greatest Poet of the Holocaust."

In the background you can hear his poem 'Unter Dayne Vayse Shtern' - about, written, and composed in the Vilnius Ghetto - set to music by Gideon Brettler.

Texts:

Avraham Sutzkever translations by Maia Evrona

A. Sutzkever. Selected Poetry and Prose. Trans. Barbara Harshav & Benjamin Harshav. University of California Press, 1991.

Music:

Unter Dayne Vayse Shtern - Lyrics by Avraham Sutzkever. Voice: Yeela Avital; flute: Daphna Peled; guitar and arrangement: Gideon Brettler.

Vi Azoi - Lyrics by Avraham Sutzkever. Daniel Kahn and the Painted Bird.

There is a strange flavor, seasoned with pomegranates and grapes
found in the desert when, without shadows, it flames;
while rain rolls through the red dust of dirt trails,
and it is possible to taste it in Jerusalem’s hills.

These are the opening lines of an excerpt from Avraham Sutzkever's Lider fun Togbukh (Poems From a Diary, 1974-1981), read by host Marcela Sulak.

Sutzkever was born in 1913 in today's Belarus. He was sent to the Vilnius Ghetto during WWII, from which he escaped and was flown to Russia. After the war he moved to Tel Aviv just before the founding of Israel.

He died on January 20, 2010 in Tel Aviv at the age of 96 - you can hear an unusual account of his funeral in our previous podcast. The New York Times called him "The Greatest Poet of the Holocaust."

In the background you can hear his poem 'Unter Dayne Vayse Shtern' - about, written, and composed in the Vilnius Ghetto - set to music by Gideon Brettler.

Texts:

Avraham Sutzkever translations by Maia Evrona

A. Sutzkever. Selected Poetry and Prose. Trans. Barbara Harshav & Benjamin Harshav. University of California Press, 1991.

Music:

Unter Dayne Vayse Shtern - Lyrics by Avraham Sutzkever. Voice: Yeela Avital; flute: Daphna Peled; guitar and arrangement: Gideon Brettler.

Vi Azoi - Lyrics by Avraham Sutzkever. Daniel Kahn and the Painted Bird.

Etgar Keret and Assaf Gavron have edited a collection of short stories, Tel Aviv Noir, that highlights the hidden, sometimes shameful, always mysterious aspects of the city.

Host Marcela Sulak reads from one of her favorites, 'Women,' written by Matan Hermoni and translated by Yardenne Greenspan. The narrator comes across a mysterious figure at the funeral of poet Abraham Sutzkever, taking place at the Kyriat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv on a cold, sad, and rainy January day, full of "raincoats and umbrellas and top hats and tears and scarves and boots and overshoes." How will he later come to know this man with the "sparkle in his eyes"?

We hear music chosen by Hermoni throughout the show.

Text:

Tel Aviv Noir, Ed. Etgar Keret and Assaf Gavron. Trans. Yardenne Greenspan. Akashic Books, 2014.

Music:

Arik Lavie - Ze KoreHadudaim - Marsh Hadayagim

Etgar Keret and Assaf Gavron have edited a collection of short stories, Tel Aviv Noir, that highlights the hidden, sometimes shameful, always mysterious aspects of the city.

Host Marcela Sulak reads from one of her favorites, 'Women,' written by Matan Hermoni and translated by Yardenne Greenspan. The narrator comes across a mysterious figure at the funeral of poet Abraham Sutzkever, taking place at the Kyriat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv on a cold, sad, and rainy January day, full of "raincoats and umbrellas and top hats and tears and scarves and boots and overshoes." How will he later come to know this man with the "sparkle in his eyes"?

We hear music chosen by Hermoni throughout the show.

Text:

Tel Aviv Noir, Ed. Etgar Keret and Assaf Gavron. Trans. Yardenne Greenspan. Akashic Books, 2014.

Music:

Arik Lavie - Ze Kore
Hadudaim - Marsh Hadayagim

You’ve still got time to visit a Tel Aviv beach this winter. To get you in the mood, host Marcela Sulak reads Rachel Chalifi's poem 'Tel Aviv Beach Winter '74,' translated by Alexandra Meiri. Here's an excerpt:

The sun is a faded photo.Shore birds peck greyly at the sand.The muscles of the sea groan.A solitary woman in a nylonscarf. What is she,against a thunderstorm?

Chalfi was born in Tel Aviv, the daughter of two poets. She studied in Jerusalem, then Berkeley, and finally Los Angeles, before returning to Tel Aviv where she married a writer - ending as she began. To date, Chalfi has published 15 books of poetry and a collection of short stories. She has won the Prime Minister's Prize, the Bialik Prize, and the prestigious Brenner prize, amongst others.

Marcela ends by reading 'A Witch Practically,' in which Chalifi explains why being a "witch" is a little more mundane than you might think.

Text:

Kaleidoscope: Three Poets from Israel. Mosaic Press, 2014.

Music:

'Stairs of the Unknown.' Composed by Eitan Steinberg, sung by Etty BenZaken, inspired by and with text from three poems by Raquel Chalfi.

You’ve still got time to visit a Tel Aviv beach this winter. To get you in the mood, host Marcela Sulak reads Rachel Chalifi's poem 'Tel Aviv Beach Winter '74,' translated by Alexandra Meiri. Here's an excerpt:

The sun is a faded photo.
Shore birds peck greyly at the sand.
The muscles of the sea groan.
A solitary woman in a nylon
scarf. What is she,
against a thunderstorm?

Chalfi was born in Tel Aviv, the daughter of two poets. She studied in Jerusalem, then Berkeley, and finally Los Angeles, before returning to Tel Aviv where she married a writer - ending as she began. To date, Chalfi has published 15 books of poetry and a collection of short stories. She has won the Prime Minister's Prize, the Bialik Prize, and the prestigious Brenner prize, amongst others.

Marcela ends by reading 'A Witch Practically,' in which Chalifi explains why being a "witch" is a little more mundane than you might think.

Text:

Kaleidoscope: Three Poets from Israel. Mosaic Press, 2014.

Music:

'Stairs of the Unknown.' Composed by Eitan Steinberg, sung by Etty BenZaken, inspired by and with text from three poems by Raquel Chalfi.

Shimon Adaf's poem 'Sderot' begins:

It took me twenty years to lovethis hole in the middle of nowhere.The cotton buds dispersed in a white flameand the wind meddled in the cypresses...

Born in Sderot, the 'bomb shelter capital of the world,' to parents of Moroccan origin, Shimon Adaf has written five novels and three collections of poetry, which have received numerous national prizes. He lectures on Hebrew literature at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and is head of the Hebrew-language creative writing program there.

Host Marcela Sulak reads from Adaf's 'Ars Poetica,' which deals with his Moroccan origins, and 'Evening Prayer,' which is rooted in the memory of his religious upbringing.

Adaf also sings, writes songs, and plays music with the band Ha’Atzulah - we hear some of his work during the podcast.

Text:

Kaleidoscope: Three Poets from Israel. Mosaic Press, 2014.

Music:

Ars Poetica - lyrics by Shimon Adaf, music by Shimon Adaf, David Gross, and Shimon Tal.Evening Prayer- lyrics by Shimon Adaf, music by Shimon Adaf, David Gross, and Shimon Tal.Tagidi shetov [Say It’s Good] - lyrics by Shimon Adaf, music by Knesiyat HaSekhel

Shimon Adaf's poem 'Sderot' begins:

It took me twenty years to love
this hole in the middle of nowhere.
The cotton buds dispersed in a white flame
and the wind meddled in the cypresses...

Born in Sderot, the 'bomb shelter capital of the world,' to parents of Moroccan origin, Shimon Adaf has written five novels and three collections of poetry, which have received numerous national prizes. He lectures on Hebrew literature at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and is head of the Hebrew-language creative writing program there.

Host Marcela Sulak reads from Adaf's 'Ars Poetica,' which deals with his Moroccan origins, and 'Evening Prayer,' which is rooted in the memory of his religious upbringing.

Adaf also sings, writes songs, and plays music with the band Ha’Atzulah - we hear some of his work during the podcast.

Text:

Kaleidoscope: Three Poets from Israel. Mosaic Press, 2014.

Music:

Ars Poetica - lyrics by Shimon Adaf, music by Shimon Adaf, David Gross, and Shimon Tal.
Evening Prayer- lyrics by Shimon Adaf, music by Shimon Adaf, David Gross, and Shimon Tal.
Tagidi shetov [Say It’s Good] - lyrics by Shimon Adaf, music by Knesiyat HaSekhel

Host Marcela Sulak takes us on an unusual trip to the bakery with Sharron Hass' short story The Thief, translated by Amalia Ziv. On encountering a mysterious woman in red stealing a box of cookies from a bakery, the protagonist sees her own situation reflected in the thief's predicament: "The risks you take. The poverty of truth. And the panic, the terrible panic that we shall never receive as much as we give."

Tel Aviv poet, Sharron Hass, is known mostly for her poetry; among her three collections are the cult classic, The Mountain Mother is Gone, The Stranger and the Everyday Woman, and Subjects of the Sun. The critic Rami Saari locates her work on the border between reality, legend, and dream.

Texts:

The Defiant Muse: Hebrew feminist Poems from Antiquity to the Present. Eds. Shirley Kaufman, Galit Hasan-Rokem, and Tamar S.Hess. The Feminist Press, 1999.

Poets on the Edge: An Anthology of Contemporary Hebrew Poetry. Ed. and translated by Tzippi Keller. SUNY series in Modern Jewish Literature and Culture, 2008.

With an Iron Pen: Twenty Years of Hebrew Protest Poetry. Ed. Tal Nitzan and Rachel Tzvia Back. SUNY 1999.

Music:

'An Impressionist Painting' - words by Amalia Ziv, music by Carmella Gross Wagner

'Women Write Poetry' - words by Amalia Ziv, music by Carmella Gross Wagner

Host Marcela Sulak takes us on an unusual trip to the bakery with Sharron Hass' short story The Thief, translated by Amalia Ziv. On encountering a mysterious woman in red stealing a box of cookies from a bakery, the protagonist sees her own situation reflected in the thief's predicament: "The risks you take. The poverty of truth. And the panic, the terrible panic that we shall never receive as much as we give."

Tel Aviv poet, Sharron Hass, is known mostly for her poetry; among her three collections are the cult classic, The Mountain Mother is Gone, The Stranger and the Everyday Woman, and Subjects of the Sun. The critic Rami Saari locates her work on the border between reality, legend, and dream.

Texts:

The Defiant Muse: Hebrew feminist Poems from Antiquity to the Present. Eds. Shirley Kaufman, Galit Hasan-Rokem, and Tamar S.Hess. The Feminist Press, 1999.

Poets on the Edge: An Anthology of Contemporary Hebrew Poetry. Ed. and translated by Tzippi Keller. SUNY series in Modern Jewish Literature and Culture, 2008.

With an Iron Pen: Twenty Years of Hebrew Protest Poetry. Ed. Tal Nitzan and Rachel Tzvia Back. SUNY 1999.

Music:

'An Impressionist Painting' - words by Amalia Ziv, music by Carmella Gross Wagner

'Women Write Poetry' - words by Amalia Ziv, music by Carmella Gross Wagner