For over 40 years, Modern Hebrew Literature has helped English speakers keep abreast of Israel's active 
literary scene. Its New Series, published yearly by the Institute in association with The Toby Press 
includes excerpts from newly translated novels and short stories, articles on a variety of literary topics, 
interviews with authors, a selection of poetry, and reviews of books recently published in Hebrew. 
For detailed information, please visit Toby Press website.



Modern Hebrew Literature No. 5, Fall 2009

ISRAEL AT 60 
RETROSPECTIVE & RENEWAL

Contents 

Acknowledgements
Introduction

HEBREW LITERATURE THEN AND NOW

Anat Feinberg, Modern Hebrew Fiction
Nissim Calderon, Hebrew Poetry in the Past 20 Years 
Gad Kaynar, Hebrew Drama & Israeli Theater
Zohar Shavit, Hebrew Children’s Literature 

FICTION: EXCERPTS FROM RECENTLY
 PUBLISHED NOVELS

Ronit Matalon, The Sound of Our Steps 
Dror Burstein, Kinship 
Ruth Almog, Stranger in Paradise
Eyal Megged, A Couple 
Benny Barbash, Little Big Bang 
Asaf Schurr, Motti
Nurith Gertz, Unrepentant 
Amnon Dankner, Aunt Eva – His Nights and Days
Avirama Golan, Vital Signs
Shimon Adaf, Sunburnt Faces 
Edna Noy, All She Loved
Judith Rotem, Longing 
Anat Einhar, Summer Predators 
Omri Teg’Amlak Avera, Astera? 
Yosef Bar-Yosef, Who Gives a Damn about Dreams 
Yair Lapid, Sunset in Moscow 

A GRAPHIC NOVEL
Racheli Rotner, The Other Side of the World


BOOKS OF NOTE
Benjamin Tammuz, Bottle Parables 
Hanoch Bartov, In the Middle of It All 
Hadara Lazar, In and Out of Palestine, 1940-1948
Nava Semel, Australian Wedding 

FROM THE CLASSICS
Gershon Shofman, Henya
Dvora Baron, A Day in Rami’s Life


THE CONTEMPORARY SHORT STORY
Yehoshua Kenaz, Apartment with Garden Entrance
Almog Behar, Shrinking

TWO AUTHORS DISCUSS THEIR WORK
Etgar Keret 
Haim Be’er 

POETRY
Yair Hurvitz 
Ory Bernstein
Tuvya Ruebner 
Lyor Shternberg

THE ART OF TRANSLATION
Chana Bloch & Chana Kronfeld
Hovering at a Low Altitude: The Collected Poetry of Dahlia Ravikovitch, 2009

REVIEWS
Lilach Nethanel, The Hebrew Condition
Reviewed by Pe’er Friedman

David Grossman, Until the End of the Land
Reviewed by Arik Glasner

Amos Oz, Scenes From Village Life
Reviewed by Nissim Calderon

Hagai Dagan, The Holy Land Sets Sail
Reviewed by Hana Herzig

Esty G. Hayim, Three of Them
Reviewed by Ron Ben-Nun

Michal Zamir, Property: Sold
Reviewed by Arik Glasner

Amir Gutfreund, For Her, Heroes Fly
Reviewed by Pe’er Friedman

Mira Magen, Time Will Tell
Reviewed by Shabtai Kor

Yossi Sucary, Shelter
Reviewed by Liraz Axelrod

Yaniv Itzkovits, Shooting Pictures
Reviewed by Arik Glasner

Alon Altaras, It's Our Child
Reviewed by Yonatan Livneh

Shulamit Lapid, The End of the Lemon Season
Reviewed by Yael Segalovitz