Two decades ago, hundreds of Israeli reservists caused a national sensation for refusing to serve in the occupied territories. But what remains of their legacy?
“It’s fascinating to read poetry in its original form, but it’s just as fascinating to read it in a variety of translations. Suddenly the same text takes on new dimensions, as if it were growing in new directions.”
Yaniv Iczkovits, author of The Slaughterman s Daughter. (Photo by Eric Sultan)
LONDON Israeli writer Yaniv Iczkovits is no stranger to winning literary prizes for his historical novel, “The Slaughterman’s Daughter.” Since its publication in Hebrew in 2015, Iczkovits has received both the Ramat Gan and Agnon prizes, and the book was also shortlisted for Israel’s prestigious Sapir Prize. But Iczkovits describes being announced the winner of the 2021 Wingate Literary Prize this past March as his best moment as a writer.
“I was sure I wasn’t going to win. Everyone had prepared me and said I had no chance, that they’re going to go for the big names,” Iczkovits tells The Times of Israel via Zoom, from his home in Tel Aviv.
In Taipei, the Grayhawk Agency was making submissions and getting silence back from the world. In Tel Aviv, Yaniv Iczkovits was launching his new book a month before the second lockdown.
Waiting for a train in Jerusalem during the pandemic year, September 14, 2020. Image – Getty iStockphoto: Alex Eidelman
An Agent and an Author
The ongoing Jerusalem International Book Forum’s series of digital sessions featured a particularly strong panel on Tuesday (May 4), with high-level observations and interpretations of the book publishing industry during the global pandemic in the last 15 months.
Today, we return to that panel to hear from two other speakers: