Abba Kovner

Abba Kovner (1918 - 1987, b. Sebastopol, Crimea) grew up in Vilnius, Lithuania where he graduated from the Hebrew Gymnasium. After the Nazi invasion, he joined the Jewish underground partisan organization, and in 1943 took command of the United Partisans Organization of the Vilnius ghetto. Shortly before the extermination of the ghetto, he led the Jewish Partisans' Battalion in the neighboring forests.
An organizer of illegal immigration during the British Mandate, Kovner was imprisoned, freed and went on to fight in the War of Independence. He wrote his first collection of poetry in 1947, while imprisoned by the British. He then settled on Kibbutz Ein Hahoresh, where he lived until his death. Kovner, a novelist and essayist, was most notably a poet. He has been critically acclaimed worldwide. He received the prestigious Israel Prize for his work.
Abba Kovner's experiences during World War II and the establishment of the State of Israel influence his writing throughout. "Poetry," he said, "is a request for pardon for what we do in our lives, and for what was done to us." His poetry speaks of matters which are strongly personal, yet painfully universal. Using rhyme, assonance, unusual syntax and graphic technique with formidable technical skill, Kovner dissolves the barriers between we, you, I and she. "The struggle to survive is eternal and timeless," writes poet Shirley Kaufman. "Kovner knows it in everything he writes... His concerns transcend the concerns of one people. The central predicament of his poems is not national but metaphysical and moral." He questions how we remain human in an inhuman world.

Books Published in Hebrew

While There is Still Night (poetry), Sifriat Poalim, 1947 [Ad-Lo-Or]

Parting From the South (poetry), Sifriat Poalim, 1949 [Preidah Me-Ha-Darom]

Face to Face (2-volume novel), Sifriat Poalim, 1953 [Panim El Panim]

Sandy Ground(poetry), Sifriat Poalim, 1961 [Adamat Ha-Hol]

Of All the Loves (poetry), Sifriat Poalim, 1965 [Mi-Col Ha-Ahavot]

My Little Sister (poetry), Sifriat Poalim, 1967 [Ahoti Ha-Ketanah]

A Canopy in the Desert (poetry), Sifriat Poalim, 1970 [Hupah Ba-Midbar]

The Rhythm Band Appears (poetry), Sifriat Poalim, 1972 [Lehakat Ha-Ketzev Mofi'ah Al Har Grizin]

The Small Book (poetry), Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1973 [Ha-Sefer Ha-Katan]

Observation Points (poetry), Sifriat Poalim, 1977 [Tatzpit]

To (poetry), Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1980 [El]

A Journey to the Land of Imagination (children), Sifriat Poalim, 1981 [Masah El Eretz Ha-Dimion]

On the Narrow Bridge (essays), Sifriat Poalim, 1981 [Al Ha-Gesher Ha-Tzar]

Scrolls of Fire (poetry), Keter, 1981 [Megilot Ha-Esh]

Sloan-Kettering (poetry), Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1986 [Sloan Kettering]

Songs of Rosa (poetry), Sifriat Poalim, 1987 [Shirat Rosa]

His Own and About Him, Beit Mordechai Anilevitch, 1988 [Mi-Shelo Ve-Alav]

Something About Whales (children), Sifriat Poalim, 1989 [Mashehu Al Leviatanim]

Michael, the Little Angel (children), Sifriat Hapoalim, 1989 [Ha-Malach Ha-Katan Michael]

Testimonial Scrolls, Bialik Institute, 1993 [Megilot Ha-Edut]

Collected Poems, Bialik Institute, 1996 [Col Shirei Abba Kovner]

Delaying Wounds (poetry), Am Oved, 1998 [Le'akev Et Ha-Keryi'ah]

Books in Translation

Abba Kovner and Nelly Sachs: Selected Poems
English: Harmondsworth, Penguin Books, 1971

A Canopy in the Desert
English: Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1973

My Little Sister and Selected Poems
English: Oberlin, Oberlin College Press, 1986

Testimonial Scrolls
Russian: Jerusalem, Aliya Library, 1989

Mother and Child (play)
English: New York, World Zionist Organization, 1972