Poet Amir Or was born in Tel Aviv in 1956 and studied philosophy and comparative religion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he later lectured on Ancient Greek Religion. He has taught poetry and creative writing at Helicon Poetry School, as well as at universities in Israel, Europe, the U.S. and Japan. Or has published several collections of poetry, articles on poetry and on classical and religious studies, as well as several collections of translations from ancient Greek, Latin, English and Japanese. In 1990 Or co-founded Helicon Poetry Society for the Advancement of Poetry in Israel and served as its chief editor and Artistic Director until 2011. He was editor of its literary journal, Helikon, and edited the Helikon books Series. He was also director of the Sha'ar International Poetry Festival and the Helicon Hebrew-Arabic Poetry School. At present he is national coordinator of the U.N.-sponsored venture "Poets for Peace" and serves as national editor of the international poetry magazines Atlas and Blesok. He is also a founding member of the EACWP (European Association of Creative Writing Programs) of the international Circle of Poets and of the WPM (World Poetry Movement).
Or has received several prizes and awards, including the Harry Harshon Award (1986), the Minister of Culture Honorary Award for his translations from ancient Greek (1994), the Bernstein Prize (1995), the Prime Minister's Prize (1996), the Pleiades Tribute of the Struga Poetry Festival for having made "a significant contribution to modern world poetry" (Macedonia, 2000), the Fulbright Award for Writers (2006), the Oeneumi Poetry Prize of the Tetovo Poetry Festival (Macedonia, 2010), the Wine Poetry Prize of the Struga Poetry Evenings (Macedonia, 2013), the Stefan Mitrov Ljubisa Award (Montenegro, 2014) and the
European Atlas of Lyrics Award (Republika
Srpska, 2016).
He has taken part in many international literary conferences and festivals, and his poems have been published in more than 40 languages.
Books Published in Hebrew
I Watch Through the Monkey's Eyes (poetry), Martef 29/ Eked, 1987 [Ani Mabit Me-Einei Ha-Kofim]
Faces (poetry), Am Oved, 1991 [Panim]
Ransoming the Dead (poetry), Helikon-Bitan, 1994 [Pidyon Ha-Met]
So! (poetry), Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1995 [Kacha]
Poem (poetry) Hakibbutz Hameuchad-Rythmus, 1996 [Shir]
Day (poetry) Tag, 1998 [Yom / Megilat Layla]
The Song of Tahira (prose) Xargol, 2001 [Shir Tahira: Asher Nishma Mi-Pi Kashiwan]
The Museum of Time (poetry) Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 2007 [Muzeon Ha-Zman]
Heart Beast: Selected and New Poems, 1990-2010, Keshev, 2010 [Ha-Chaya She-Ba-Lev: Ahavot 1990-2010: Mivchar Va-Chadashim]
The Madman's Prophecy (poetry), Keshev, 2012 [Masa Ha-Meshuga]
Loot (poetry), Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 2013 [Shalal: Shirim Nivcharim 1977-2013]
Wings (poetry), Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 2015 [Knafayim]
The Kingdom (novel), Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 2015 [Ha-Mamlacha]
Books in Translation
Miracle: Selected
Poems
English (bilingual): Dublin, Poetry Ireland/Eigse Eireann, 1998
English / Spanish: New York, Urpi, 2011
Spanish: Havana, Colección
Sur, 2013
Serbian: Belgrade, Archipelag, 2017
Language Says
English: Chattanooga, PM Publications, 2001
Poem
English: Dublin, Dedalus
Publishers, 2004
Polish: Olsztyn, Portret,
2006
Day
English: Dublin, Dedalus,
2006
Plates from the
Museum of Time and Other Poems
English: London / New Delhi
/ New York / Toronto, Aark Arts, 2009
Loot
Serbian: Belgrade,
Archipelag, 2012
The Museum of Time
Dutch: Maastricht, Azul,
2012
French: Paris, Éditions de
l'Amandier, 2013
Serbian: Belgrade,
Archipelag, 2015
Faces
Polish: Gołdap, Z bliska,
2014
Miracle and Loot
Turkish: Istanbul, Şiirden Yayıncılık,
2014
Wings
Serbian: Belgrade, Archipelag, 2016
English: New Jersey, Sagging Meniscus, 2018
Selected Poems
Arabic: Paris, Faradis
Publishers, 1995
Macedonian: Skopje, Peliades
Series of the PSE Poetry Festival, 2000
Romanian (bilingual): Bucharest,
Vinea, 2006
Spanish: Havana, Colección
Sur, 2013
English: Delhi / London / NY,
ArtAArk, 2014
Romanian / English / Hebrew: Bucharest, Contemporary
Literature Press, The University of Bucharest, in conjunction with The British
Council, 2014
Italian: Milan, The Writer,
2014
French: (bilingual):
Brussels, Maelstrom, 2016;
French: Toulouse, Editions Eres, 2019
Serbian: Banja
Luka, Kuća poezije, 2016
The Kingdom
English: Charleston, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017