Yair Hurvitz

Yair Hurvitz (1941 - 1988, b. Tel Aviv, Israel) lived in his native city his entire life. He earned his living as a typesetter and proofreader. Known as one of the "Tel Aviv poets" centered around the literary journals Achshav and Siman Kriah, together with Meir Wieseltier and Yona Wallach, he published several volumes of poetry. His special affinity for Scottish verse led him to translate and anthologize this poetry.
Hurvitz's introverted poetry makes extensive use of external images of nature as figurative representations of his inner life and emotions. His father's death, his mother's sorrow, his own loves and losses are all central themes in his writing.
Hurvitz's early work is marked by traditional syntax, but after the mid-1960s he adopted a method of verbal collage in which he achieved shading and tonal surprise by a network of alliteration which is often disrupted. Symbols of despair are complemented by symbols of hope until his later poems, where despondency dominates. His early death abruptly ended the career of one of the leading poets of the 1970s.

Books Published in Hebrew

In Mute Streets (poetry), Eked, 1961 []

Poems from the Lower Edge (poetry), Shir, 1961 [Shirim Min Ha-Katzeh Ha-Namuch]

Poems for Louise (poetry), Achshav, 1964 [shirim Le-Louise]

Salvion (poetry), Achshav, 1966 [Salvion]

In a City with No Heavens (poetry), Achshav, 1968 [Ba-Ir She-Reki'im La Eyin Ve-Margoa Mahaseh]

The Season of the Witch (poetry), Daga, 1970 [Onat Ha-Machshefah]

Narcissus of a Swamp Kingdom (poetry), Gog, 1972 [Narkisim Be-Malkut Medumah]

Poems 1960-1973 (poetry), Hakibbutz Hameuchad/Siman Kriah, 1974 [Shirim 1960-73]

Poems (poetry), Siman Kriah, 1976 [Be-Shavti Levad]

Place (poetry), Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1978 [Makom]

From the Book of Dreams (children), Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1978 []

Anatomy of Rain (poetry), Hakibbutz Hameuchad/Siman Kriah, 1980 [Anatomia Shel Geshem]

Chosen Land (poetry), Hakibbutz Hameuchad/Siman Kriah, 1982 [Eretz Bechirah]

Atrial Flutter (poetry), Hakibbutz Hameuchad/Siman Kriah, 1987 [Tzipor Kluah]

Anxious Relations (poetry), Hakibbutz Hameuchad/Siman Kriah, 1986 [Yahasim Ve-Da'agah]

Collected Poems 1 (poetry), 1960-1976, Hakibbutz Hameuchad /Siman Kriah, 1988 [Goral Ha-Gan]

Books in Translation

Individual poems have been published in: Arabic, Czech, Dutch, English, French, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Yiddish.