Yoel Hoffmann

Yoel Hoffmann was born in Romania in 1937 to a Jewish family of Austro-Hungarian culture, who came to pre-state Israel when Hoffman was one year old. His mother’s early death and the years spent boarding with family members and in a children’s home until his father’s remarriage figure prominently in his work. A professor emeritus of Japanese poetry, Buddhism and philosophy at Haifa University, Hoffman earned his doctorate in Japan. He also spent two years in a Buddhist monastery, and has translated Japanese poetry. Hoffman has received the Koret Jewish Book Award (US, 1999), the Neuman Prize (1999), the Bialik Prize (2002) and the Prime Minister’s Prize (2008).