Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: נתן שחם; January 29, 1925 – June 18, 2018) was an Israeli writer.
Biography
Born in
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
, Shaham was a member of
Kibbutz
A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...
Beit Alfa
Beit Alfa ( he, בֵּית אַלְפָא; also Beit Alpha, Bet Alpha and Bet Alfa) is a kibbutz in the Northern District of Israel, founded in 1922 by immigrants from Poland. Located at the base of the Gilboa ridge, it falls under the jurisdic ...
from 1945-2018, and served with the
Palmach
The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Companies") was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. The Palmach ...
in the
1948 Arab-Israeli War
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect.
** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
author and essayist.
Shaham was editor-in-chief of Sifriat Poalim Publishing House. He was Israel's cultural attaché in the United States from 1977–80, and a former vice-chairman of the
Israel Broadcasting Authority
The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA; ) was Israel's public broadcaster from 1948 to 2017.
History
The Israel Broadcasting Authority was an outgrowth of the radio station ''Kol Yisrael'', which made its first broadcast as an independent st ...
.
He died in his home in Beit Alfa on June 18, 2018.
Awards
Shaham was the winner of several literary awards, including the
Bialik Prize
The Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel, for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Israel's national poet Hayyim Nahman Bialik
Hayim Nahman Biali ...
(1988), the
National Jewish Book Award
The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.Prime Minister's Prize (2007).Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature Nathan Shaham (retrieved 27 November 2017).
In 2012, he won the
Israel Prize
The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor.
History
The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...
for Hebrew Literature and Poetry; the prize jury called Shaham one of the outstanding authors of Israel’s generation of founders and noted the “lively and rich” style of his plays, fiction and nonfiction works.
Works
* ''Grain and Lead'' (novel), Sifriat Poalim, 1948 agan Ve-Oferetref>
* ''The Gods Are Lazy'' (novel), Sifriat Poalim, 1949 a-Elim Atzelim* ''They'll Arrive Tomorrow'' (play), Sifriat Poalim, 1949 em Yagyu Mahar* ''Call Me Siomka'' (play), Sifriat Poalim, 1950 ra Li Siomka* "Yohanan Bar Hama" (play), 1952
* ''Always Us'' (novel), Sifriat Poalim, 1952 amid Anahnu* ''A Stone on the Well's Mouth'' (novel), Sifriat Poalim, 1956 ven Al Pi Ha-Be'er* "Meetings in Moscow" (non-fiction), 1957
* ''Veterans' Housing'' (stories), Sifriat Poalim, 1958 hikun Vatikim* ''The Wisdom of the Poor'' (novel), Sifriat Poalim, 1960 ochmat Ha-Misken* ''Citrus Scent'' (novel), Sifriat Poalim, 1962 eyah Hadarim* ''The Journey to the Land of Kush'' (travel), Massada, 1962 asah Le-Eretz Kush* "That's Because" (children), Sifriat Poalim, 1964
* ''The Book of Portraits'', Sifriat Poalim, 1968 efer ha-Diokanaot* ''First Person Plural'' (novel), Sifriat Poalim, 1968 uf Rishon Rabim* ''Round Trip'' (novel), Am Oved, 1972 aloch Ve-Shov* ''Witness for the King'' (novel), Am Oved, 1975 d Ha-Melech* ''Talk to the Wind'' (novel), Sifriat Poalim, 1975 aber El Ha-Ruah* ''The Other Side of the Wall'' (novellas), Am Oved, 1978 irot Etz Dakim* ''Green Autumn'' (stories), Sifriat Poalim, 1979 tav Yarok* ''Bone to the Bone'' (novel), Am Oved, 1981 tzem El Atzmo* ''Still Silent Voice'' (novel), Sifriat Poalim, 1983 emamah Dakah* ''Mountain and Home'' (non-fiction), Sifriat Poalim, 1984 a-Har Ve Ha-Bayit* ''The Streets of Ashkelon'' (novellas), Am Oved, 1985 utzot Ashkelon* ''Four in One Bar'', Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1987 rba Be-Teivah Ahat* ''The Rosendorf Quartet'' (novel), Am Oved, 1987 eviyat Rosendorf English translation Avalon Travel Publishing, 2000,
* ''Sealed Book'', Sifriat Poalim, 1988 efer Hatum* ''They'll Arrive Tomorrow'' (play), Or-Am, 1989 em Yagyu Mahar* ''New Account'' (play), Or-Am, 1989 eshbon Hadash* ''The Desert Generation'' (non-fiction), Sifriat Poalim, 1991 or Ha-Midbar* ''Series'' (novel), Am Oved, 1992
idra
The Idra, which means ''threshing floor'' in Aramaic, is a Kabbalistic work included in printings of the Zohar, and was probably written and appended to the main body of the Zohar at a later date. Contemporary scholars believe the ''Idra'' date ...
* ''Hot Dogs'' (stories), Sifriat Poalim, 1993 aknikiot Hamot* ''The Heart of Tel Aviv'' (novel), Am Oved, 1996 ev Tel Aviv* ''Expect a Letter'' (stories), Sifriat Poalim, 1999 ichtav Ba-Derech* ''Rosendorf's Shadow'' (novel), Am Oved, 2001 zilo Shel Rosendorf* ''
Tabula Rasa
''Tabula rasa'' (; "blank slate") is the theory that individuals are born without built-in mental content, and therefore all knowledge comes from experience or perception. Epistemological proponents of ''tabula rasa'' disagree with the doctri ...
List of Bialik Prize recipients
The Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel, for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Israel's national poet Hayyim Nahman Bialik
Hayim Nahman Bialik ...