Ronit Matalon ( he, רונית מטלון; May 25, 1959 – December 28, 2017) was an Israeli fiction writer.

Biography

Ronit Matalon was born in

Ganei Tikva Ganei Tikva ( he, גַּנֵּי תִּקְוָה, lit="gardens of hope") is a town in Israel bordering Kiryat Ono to the west, Petah Tikva to the north, Gat Rimon to the east and Savyon to the south. History Ganei Tikva was formed in 1949, ...

, Israel, the daughter of Egyptian Jewish immigrants. Matalon studied literature and philosophy at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

and worked as a journalist for ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

'' newspaper, where she covered Gaza and the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

between 1987 and 1993. She was a resident of

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

and taught literature at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...

. She also taught at the Camera Obscura school for the Arts in Tel Aviv. Matalon was also a liberal social activist, and participated in demonstrations organized by the

Association for Civil Rights in Israel The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) (Hebrew: ; Arabic: ) was created in 1972 as an independent, non-partisan not-for-profit organization with the mission of protecting human rights and civil rights in Israel and the territories unde ...

. She was a member of the Art and Culture Council of the Ministry of Education, and the Forum for Mediterranean Culture at the Van Leer Institute. In 2003, she was a co-petitioner to the

Supreme Court of Israel The Supreme Court (, ''Beit HaMishpat HaElyon''; ar, المحكمة العليا) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme C ...

to investigate the assassination of

Salah Shehade Salah Mustafa Muhammad Shehade صلاح شحادة (or Shehadeh, Shahadeh; 24 February 1953 – 22 July 2002) was a member of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. He led the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades military wing of Hamas, until his as ...

Awards and recognition

* 1994 –

Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works The Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works, also known as the Levi Eshkol Literary Award, named after Israel's third Prime Minister, is an annual award granted to writers in the Hebrew language. The prize was established in 1969. Abou ...

*2009 –

Bernstein Prize The Bernstein Prize is an annual Israeli literary award for writers 50 years of age and younger. The prize is awarded by the Bernstein Foundation, named after Mordechai Bernstein, who left money in his estate to establish a foundation in order to ...

(original Hebrew novel category), for her novel ''"The Sound of Our Steps"''.Matalon and Stav win Bernstein Prize
''The Jerusalem Post'', July 16, 2009.Forget Sapir. Give her the Bernstein
''Haaretz'', 16 July 2009. * 2010 – Neuman prize, a literary prize given by

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...

. * 2010 – Honorary Ph.D. from the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

on June 6, 2010 for her contributions to literature and for her social activism. * 2016 –

The EMET Prize for Art, Science and Culture ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

(in Hebrew literature) * 2017 –

Brenner Prize The Brenner Prize is an Israeli literary prize awarded annually by the Hebrew Writers Association in Israel and the Haft Family Foundation. It was founded in the name of the author Yosef Haim Brenner Yosef Haim Brenner ( he, יוֹסֵף חַ� ...

for her novel, ''And the Bride Closed the Door'' (2016)

Novels

* ''Strangers at Home'' (1992) * ''A Story that Begins with a Snake's Funeral'' (1994,

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

) * ''The One Facing Us'' (1995) * ''Sarah Sarah'' (2000) * ''Reading and Writing'' (2001) * ''Bliss'' (2003) * ''Uncover Her Face'' (2005) * ''The Sound of Our Steps'' (2008) * ''And the Bride Closed the Door'' (2016)

Keter Keter ( he-a, כֶּתֶר, Keter.ogg, link=yes, ''Keṯer'', lit. "crown") also known as Kether, is the topmost of the sephirot of the Tree of Life in Kabbalah. Since its meaning is "crown", it is interpreted as both the "topmost" of the Sep ...

Articles

*"Weddings and Anti-Weddings", ''Haaretz'', 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matalon, Ronit 1959 births 2017 deaths Israeli Jews Israeli people of Egyptian-Jewish descent Academic staff of the University of Haifa Tel Aviv University alumni Israeli novelists Israeli children's writers Bernstein Prize recipients Brenner Prize recipients EMET Prize recipients in Culture and Art Israeli women children's writers Israeli women novelists Recipients of Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works Deaths from cancer in Israel Burials at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery People from Central District (Israel) Jewish women writers