Itamar Yaoz-Kest was born in Hungary in 1934. He was interned in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1944 and came to Israel in 1951. Yaoz-Kest studied literature, Bible and Hebrew language at Tel Aviv University and has served as the editor of Eked Publishing House for many years. He has published many books of poetry and a prose trilogy. He is also a translator from Hungarian and classical Latin into Hebrew.
Yaoz-Kest has received many literary prizes, including the Talpir Prize (1967), the Herzl Award (1972), the Wertheim Prize for Poetry (1984), the Kugel Prize (1984), the Lea Goldberg Prize (1990), the Prime Minister's Prize twice (1992; 2007), the Ministry of Education and Culture Award for Translation (1998), the Israel Efrat Prize (1999), the President's Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2002), the ACUM Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2004) and the Brenner Prize (2016). In 1992 he was honored by the Hungarian Government for his translations of Hungarian poetry.
Books Published in Hebrew
POETRY
Angel Without Wings, Eked, 1958 [Malach Lelo Knafayim]
Bergen-Belsen Chapters, Eked, 1961 [Nof Be-Ashan/ Pirkei Bergen-Belsen]
Eyes’ Legacy, Ekked, 1965 [Yerushat Einayim]
Down to Her House, Eked, 1969 [Le-Morad Beitah]
Viola’s Summer, Eked, 1973 [Kayitz Shel Viola]
13 Poems from the Back, Eked, 1974 [13 Shirim Min Ha-Oref]
Double Routed, Eked, 1976 [Du-Shoresh]
Identity Melting Pot, Eked, 1980 [Metich Ha-Zehuyot]
Tongue of the River, Tongue of the Sea, Eked, 1983 [Leshon Ha-Nahar, Leshon Ha-Yam]
Fire Pipes, Eked, 1986 [Tzinorot Molichey Esh]
Unique on Earth, Eked, 1990 [Yechudi`im Alei Adamot]
Summons, Eked, 1992 [Zimun]
Seven Binding Marks, Eked, 1994 [Shiv’ah Simanei Keshirah]
Up the Mountain, Sephira, 1998 [Ole Ba-Har]
Selected Poems, Tammuz, 1998 [Shirim Nivharim]
In Your Courtyards Before Dusk, Eked, 2013 [Be-Chatzroteicha Le-Et Erev: Shirim 2010-2013]
PROSE
Emigrating Home (autobiographical trilogy): [Ha-Mehager Ha-Bayta]
From the Window of the Traveling House, Eked, 1970 [Ba-Halon Ha-Bayt Ha-Nosea]
A Bird’s Shadow, Eked, 1971 [Tzel Ha-Tzipor]
Grasping Sand, Eked, 1977 [Ahizah Shel Hol]
The Phosphorescent Line (novel), Eked, 1972 [Ha-Kav Ha-Zarhani]
Night Chariot (stories), Eked, 1973 [Merkavah Leylit]
Books in Translation
Selected Poems
Hungarian: Budapest, Europa, 1989; Budapest, Mult es Jovo, 1998
Romanian: Jerusalem, Israel, Editura Eked, 2016.