Shez (Shaz, he, שז) (born Efrat Yerushalmi on 30 October 1959)"ההפרדה בין כוחות ההרס וביני נעשית מאוד ברורה באמצעות הכתיבה"
he separation between the forces of destruction and between me becomes very clear through writing , by Boaz Kohen, ''Globes'', October 25, 2010 is an Israeli writer, poet and playwright. Recipient of the 1999 for Poetry and the 2007

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 ...

. She is also a musician and a songwriter, described as "the first out lesbian performer in Israel". More recently she has become a facilitator of writing workshops and "weight loss through writing" workshops.

Early life

Shez was born in

Kiryat Ono Kiryat Ono ( he, קִרְיַת אוֹנוֹ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel. It is located east of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Modern Kiryat Ono is not to be confused with the biblical Ono, which was located in the ar ...

to Avraham and Ada Yerushalmi. She was subject to

incest Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity (marriage or stepfamily), adoption ...

, reflected in her poems and books.ילדה ושמה שז
girl named Shaz an interview by Aviva Lori, ''

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 ...

'', Jule 7, 2001 Trying to distance herself from the past, she changed her name ("Shez" is a Hebrew contraction of ''Shem Zmani'' ( he, שם זמני), "temporary name") at the age of 25. Shez studied theatre at .

Creative career

Shez is described as a "provocative and extroverted

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

" and her poetry is "outrageous, blunt and violent and leaves not even a narrow crack for sentimentality and compassion".

Albums

*2002: ''Crazy Dance'', music album based on the 1999 book *2020: להחזיר את הפיות (''Return the Fairies'') a music album in cooperation with Jonathan Bar Giora, released by

Helicon Records Helicon ( he, הליקון) is an Israeli record label. History Helicon Records was founded in 1985. Aside from being the label of many Israeli singers, Helicon was the exclusive distributor of Snapper Music, EMI and Universal Music Group (repla ...

Books

*1996: ''White Pearl Necklace'', a play about childhood sexual abuse *1999: ''The Crazy Dance'' (ריקוד המשוגעת) - songs *2001: ''Returning the Fairies to Eretz Israel: A Fake Autobiographical Novel'' (להחזיר את הפיות לארץ-ישראל) *2005" ''Tamed'' (מאולפת) - stories *2010: ''Away From His Absence'' (הרחק מהיעדרו), Am Oved Publishing. Written in the first person, it is a novel about the incestous relationship between a father and a daughter. A screenplay by

Keren Yedaya Keren Yedaya ( he, קרן ידעיה; born in 1972) is an Israeli filmmaker. She was born in the United States, but her family moved to Israel in 1975 when she was just three. She trained at the Camera Obscura School of Art in Tel Aviv. Biograph ...

based on the book was chosen to take part in a

Jerusalem Film Festival The Jerusalem Film Festival ( he, פסטיבל הקולנוע ירושלים, ar, مهرجان القدس السينمائي) is an international film festival held annually in Jerusalem, It was established in 1984 by the Director of the Jerusal ...

. Eventually, it resulted in the 2014 Israeli-French drama film with English title ''

That Lovely Girl ''That Lovely Girl'' (french: Loin de mon père, he, הרחק מהיעדרו) is a 2014 Israeli-French drama film directed by Keren Yedaya. It was selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. The film ...

'', screened at the

2014 Cannes Film Festival The 67th Cannes Film Festival was held from 14 to 25 May 2014. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the main competition section. The Palme d'Or was awarded to the Turkish film '' Winter Sleep'' directed by Nuri Bi ...

to compete in the section

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

Awards

*2007

. *2004: Hero of Culture Award from the Israeli LGBT communityיקירי הקהילה: שז, אילנה ברגר, והזוג ירוס-חקק
ommunity loved ones: Shaz, Ilana Berger, and the couple Yaros-Hakak gogay.co.il *1999 Ron Adler Prize for Poetry

References

{{Authority control 1959 births Living people 20th-century Israeli poets 21st-century Israeli poets Israeli lesbian writers Israeli women poets 20th-century Israeli women writers 21st-century Israeli women writers Lesbian poets Israeli LGBT poets Israeli LGBT dramatists and playwrights Israeli female dramatists and playwrights Lesbian dramatists and playwrights