Shin Shifra

Shin Shifra (1931-2012) was born to a family that has lived in Jerusalem since the mid-19th century. She studied kabbala, Hebrew literature and education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University. Later, she also studied the Sumerian and Akkadian languages at Bar Ilan University. Shifra taught creative writing and lectured on ancient near-eastern literature at Tel Aviv University. She published poetry, fiction, interviews with Israeli writers, literary criticism, a children's book and translations of Sumerian and Akkadian literature. Shifra received the Ze'ev Prize (2001), an Andersen Honor Citation (2001), the Amichai Prize for Poetry (2001), the President's Prize (2004), the Brenner Prize for Poetry for Whispering Silk (2008) and the EMET Prize (2010).