Amir Or

Amir Or (born 1956), is an Israeli editor, translator and award-winning poet whose works have been published in more than 30 languages. [http://www.poetrylifeandtimes.com/poetnewsFeb01.html] Levin, Lynn, "Israeli Poet Amir Or: A Conversation About Language, Myth, and the Soul" at the "Poetry Life and Times" Web site, accessed December 10, 2006]

He is the author of seven volumes of poetry as of late 2006, and his latest book in Hebrew, "The Song of Tahira" (2001) is a fictional epic in metered prose.

Individual poems by Amir Or have been published in Arabic, Armenian, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Macedonian, Malayalam, Polish, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish.

Biography

Or was born in Tel Aviv, and besides other jobs he has worked as a shepherd, builder and restaurateur. [ [http://www.artvilla.com/mair/orbio.htm] Artvilla.com Web site, Web page titled "Amir Or -- Bio:", accessed December 10, 2006] He studied philosophy and comparative religion at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he later lectured on Ancient Greek Religion. He has published essays on poetry, classics and religious studies, and has taught poetry in universities in Israel, the United Kingdom, and Japan. In 1990 he founded "Helicon Society, Israel" and since then he has been Editor-in-Chief of Helicon's journal and series of poetry books. In 1993 he set up the Arabic-Hebrew Helicon Poetry School. Or has also edited other literary journals and several anthologies of Hebrew verse in European languages. He has founded and directed the Sha’ar International Poetry Festival, and is national coordinator of the U.N.-sponsored Poets for Peace.

Awards and recognition

For his poetry he has been awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize, the Bernstein Prize and a Fulbright Award; as well as Fellowships at the University of Iowa, the Jewish-Hebrew Centre of the University of Oxford, and the Heinrich Boll Foundation, among others. For his translations he received the Honorary Prize of the Israeli Minister of Culture.

Books

In Hebrew

* "Muzeion Hazman" (The Museum of Time). Ha-kibbutz Ha-meuchad, 2007
* "Shir Tahira" (The Song of Tahira). Xargol, 2001.
* "Yom" (Day). Ha-kibbutz Ha-meuchad & Tag, 1998.
* "Shir" (Poem). Ha-kibbutz Ha-meuchad, 1996.
* "Kakha" (So!). Ha-kibbutz Ha-meuchad, 1995.
* "Pidyon ha-met". (Ransoming The Dead), Helicon-Bitan, 1994.
* "Panim" (Faces). Am Oved, 1991.
* "Ani mabbit me-‛eyney ha-qofim" (I Look Through The Monkeys’ Eyes). Eqed, 1987.

Books translated into other languages

* "Day" — into English by Fiona Sampson, (Dedalus, Dublin, 2006)
* "Poem" — into English by Fiona Sampson, (Dedalus, Dublin 2004, Romanian and Polish editions 2006)
* "Language Says" — into English (Chattanooga, PM publications, Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States, 2001)
* "Drowning, He Breaths Living Water" — into Macedonian ("Davej se, disam ziva voda": The Pleiades Series of Struga Poetry Festival, 2000)
* "Miracle" — English/Hebrew bilingual edition (Poetry Ireland, Dublin, 1998)
* "Poetry is a Criminal Girl" — into Arabic ("As-sha‛ru Fattatu l-Mujrimin"; Paris, Faradis publishers, 1995)

His translations into Hebrew

* "The Gospel of Thomas" (1992),
* "Limb-Loosening Desire" (An Anthology of Erotic Greek Poetry 1993) and
* "Stories From The Mahabharata" (1998)
* "To a Woman" by Shuntaro Tanikawa (2000, with Akiko Takahashi)

Notes

External links

* [http://www.amiror.co.il/] AMIR OR SITE
* [http://www.poetrylifeandtimes.com/poetnewsFeb01.html] Poetry Life & Times Web site: "Israeli Poet Amir Or: A Conversation About Language, Myth, and the Soul" by Lynn Levin
* [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2003/5/Hebrew%20Poetry%20in%20the%20New%20Millennium] Article by Amir Or, "Hebrew Poetry in the New Millennium" at Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site
* [http://israel.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=3103&x=1] Article on Or's poetry by Ariel Hirschfeld, "On the connection between ‘I’ and ‘you’ and the development of the poet from one book to the next"
* [http://israel.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=3088] Article on Or's poem, "A Glass of Beer", by Rami Saari, "I step into your shoes and become a part of you"

Poetry online

* [http://www.motherbird.com/morningpr.html] "Shaharit (Morning Prayer)"
* [http://www.motherbird.com/AmirOr.html#poem] "POEM" (translated from Hebrew by Helena Berg)
* [http://www.motherbird.com/AmirOr2.html] "POEM" (long version; translated from Hebrew by Helena Berg)
* [http://www.motherbird.com/AmirOr.html#barb] "The Barbarians (Round Two)" (translated by Vivian Eden)
* [http://www.motherbird.com/AmirOr.html#blue] "Blue Job" (translated by Vivian Eden)
* [http://www.motherbird.com/AmirOr.html#glass] "A Glass of Beer"
* [http://www.motherbird.com/AmirOr.html#epit] "Epitaph" (translated by Vivian Eden)
* [http://www.motherbird.com/AmirOr.html#eyes] "I Look Through the Monkeys’ Eyes" (translated by Irit Sela)
* [http://www.traktor.cz/trafika/amiror.html] [untitled] (first line: "There’s a speed in which things calm down.")