{"product_id":"you-who-cross-my-path-paperback","title":"You Who Cross My Path - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eErez Bitton\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eTsipi Keller\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator), \u003cb\u003eEli Hirsch\u003c\/b\u003e (Introduction by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis first U.S. publication of Erez Bitton, one of Israel's most celebrated poets, recalls the fate of Moroccan Jewish culture with poems both evocative and pure. Considered the founding father of Mizrahi Israeli poetry, a major tradition in the history of Hebrew poetry, Bitton's bilingual collection dramatically expands the scope of biographical experience and memory, ultimately resurrecting a vanishing world and culture. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePreliminary Background Words\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eMy mother my mother\u003cbr\u003efrom a village of shrubs green of a different green.\u003cbr\u003eFrom a bird's nest producing milk sweeter than sweet.\u003cbr\u003eFrom a nightingale's cradle of a thousand Arabian nights.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eMy mother my mother\u003cbr\u003ewho staved off evil\u003cbr\u003ewith her middle fingers\u003cbr\u003ewith beating her chest\u003cbr\u003eon behalf of all mothers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eMy father my father\u003cbr\u003ewho delved into worlds\u003cbr\u003ewho sanctified the Sabbath with pure Araq\u003cbr\u003ewho was most practiced\u003cbr\u003ein synagogue traditions.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eAnd I--\u003cbr\u003ehaving distanced myself\u003cbr\u003edeep into my heart\u003cbr\u003ewould recite\u003cbr\u003ewhen all were asleep\u003cbr\u003eshort Bach masses\u003cbr\u003edeep into my heart\u003cbr\u003ein Jewish-\u003cbr\u003eMoroccan.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe 2015 recipient of the Israel Prize, Erez Bitton was born in 1942 to Moroccan parents in Oran, Algeria, and emigrated to Israel in 1948. Blinded by a stray hand grenade in Lod, he spent his childhood in Jerusalem's School for the Blind. He is considered the founding father of Mizrahi Israeli poetry in Israel--the first poet to take on the conflict between North African immigrants and the Ashkenazi society, and the first to use Judeo-Arabic dialect in his poetry.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eErez Bitton\u003c\/b\u003e: Born in 1942 to Moroccan parents in Oran, Algeria, Erez Bitton emigrated to Israel in 1948. Blinded by a stray hand grenade he found near his home in Lod, he spent the rest of his childhood in Jerusalem's School for the Blind. He received a B.A. in Social Work from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an M.A. in Psychology from Bar Ilan University. He wrote a weekly column for the Israeli daily \u003ci\u003eMa'ariv\u003c\/i\u003e and worked as a social worker and as a psychologist. His first two books, \u003ci\u003eA Moroccan Offering\u003c\/i\u003e (1976) and \u003ci\u003eThe Book of Na'na\u003c\/i\u003e (1979), established him as the founding father of Mizrahi poetry in Israel--the first poet to take on the conflict between North African immigrants and the Ashkenazi society, and the first to use Judeo-Arabic dialect in his poetry. The author of five poetry collections and a play, he has served as chairman of the Hebrew Writers Association, and is the editor-in-chief of the literary journal \u003ci\u003eApyrion\u003c\/i\u003e, which he founded in 1982. Among his awards are the Miriam Talpir Prize (1982), the Prime Minister's Prize (1988), the Yehuda Amichai Prize (2014), as well as the Bialik Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2014). His collection \u003ci\u003eThe Book of Na'na\u003c\/i\u003e was published in French (Editions Saint Germain, 1981). Bitton lives in Tel Aviv, Israel, with his wife Rahel Calahorra, and is father to a son and a daughter. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eTsipi Keller\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Prague, raised in Israel, and has been living in the U.S. since 1974. The author of nine books, she is the recipient of several literary awards, including National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowships, New York Foundation for the Arts fiction grants, and an Armand G. Erpf award from Columbia University. Her most recent translation collections are \u003ci\u003ePoets on the Edge: An Anthology of Contemporary Hebrew Poetry\u003c\/i\u003e (SUNY Press), and \u003ci\u003eThe Hymns of Job \u0026amp; Other Poems, \u003c\/i\u003e a Lannan Translation Selection (BOA Editions). In addition to Erez Bitton's \u003ci\u003eYou Who Cross My Path\u003c\/i\u003e (BOA Editions), her selected volume of Raquel Chalfi's poems, \u003ci\u003eReality Crumbs\u003c\/i\u003e, will be published in 2015 (SUNY Press). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eEli Hirsch\u003c\/b\u003e is a poet, editor, and literary critic. Born in Petach Tikva in 1962, he published his first poems in 1979, and holds a graduate degree in Philosophy from Tel Aviv University. He is the author of four volumes of poetry, and his most recent collection is \u003ci\u003eHanging Gardens of Tel Aviv\u003c\/i\u003e (Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 2012). He has published numerous book reviews and essays, and, since 2007, writes a weekly column on poetry in the Literary Supplement of the daily Yediot Ahronot. He was Editor in Chief at Modan Publishing, and is currently (since 2003) the Literary Editor at Hargol Publishing House. Hirsch teaches Creative Writing in the Literature Department at Tel Aviv University.\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 200\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.7 x 8.9 x 5.9 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e November 10, 2015\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51760117940512,"sku":"9781938160875","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/76a4a6d9d1c92cf9280274391de01e30.webp?v=1780172082","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/you-who-cross-my-path-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}