David Grossman

Leading Israeli novelist David Grossman was born in 1954 in Jerusalem. He studied philosophy and drama at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and later worked as an editor and broadcaster at Israel Radio. Grossman has written novels, short stories and novellas, drama, and a number of books for children and youth. He has also published several books of non-fiction, including interviews with Palestinians and Israeli Arabs.

Among Grossman’s many literary awards: the Eliette von Karajan Prize (Austria), the Nelly Sachs Prize (Germany, 1991), the Valumbrosa Prize (Italy, 1991), the Premio Grinzane and the Premio Mondelo (Italy, 1996), the Juliet Club Prize, the Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation (UK, 1998), the Vittorio de Sica Prize (Italy, 1999), the Buxtehude Bulle (Germany, 2001), the Sapir Prize (2001), the Bialik Prize (2004), the Koret Jewish Book Award (USA, 2006), the Premio per la Pace e l’Azione Umanitaria (City of Rome, 2006), Onorificenza della Stella Solidarieta Italiana (2007), Premio Ischia – International Award for Journalism (2007), the EMET Prize (Israel, 2007), the Geschwister Scholl Prize (Germany, 2008), the Albatross Prize (with Anne Birkenhauer, Germany, 2009), the Frankfurt Peace Prize (2010), the Wingate Prize (UK, 2011), the Prix Medicis Etranger (2011), the Brenner Prize (Israel, 2012), the Rosa d’Oro Prize (Italy, 2015), the St. Louis Literary Award (USA, 2015) and the Man Booker International Prize for A Horse Walks into a Bar (UK, 2017). Grossman was also decorated as Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France, 1998) and received an Honorary Doctorate from Florence University (2008). His books have been published in 35 languages.

Photo by: Dan Porges