Amir Or

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