"My Arabic is Mute": An Arab-Jewish Poet Reflects on Language and Identity

Description

Please join us VIA ZOOM for the next installment of our 2023 Israeli Writers Series. Professor Lauren Strauss of AU's Jewish Studies Program and the Center for Israel Studies will interview poet Almog Behar about his writing and his "language activism", and how Israel's current realities figure into his art and identity.

Almog Behar is an Israeli poet, fiction writer and essayist, and has also been called a "political language activist." He writes mostly in Hebrew, but also aims to restore the Arabic tongue to its place in Jewish culture. He holds a PhD in Hebrew literature and co-founded a university program in Judeo-Arabic Studies.

After publishing several books of poetry, his short story collection Ana Min al-Yahud (“I am One of the Jews”) appeared in 2008. The title story was awarded first prize in the 2005 Haaretz competition and has been translated and published in Arabic. His novel Rachel and Ezekiel (Keter 2010) was also translated into Arabic and has been published in Cairo, earning positive reviews there. In Israel, Behar was awarded the prestigious Prime Minister's Prize for his body of work. He teaches at Tel Aviv University and has taught and held fellowships at several other universities and institutes in Israel and abroad.

This program is hosted by the Center for Israel Studies and co-sponsored by the Department of Literature and Jewish Studies Program.

2023 Israeli Writer Series

American University's Israeli Writer Series brings influential Israeli writers in person and virtually to the American University campus. Through public lectures and literature master classes we will experience Israeli identity through the eyes and ears of some of its most important cultural voices.

The 2023 Israeli Writers Series is made possible by the generous support of the Knapp Family Foundation.