Poetry, Translations

The Hymns of Job

Maya Bejerano has said that "Writing is a kind of pretending." That "Poetry gives verbal attire to an elusive and dark world. It's a kind of pretending because it's not the thing itself, but the words that express it.” Since she published her first poem (1970) in Masa, the literary supplement of Davar, Maya Bejerano has been a strong and distinct presence in contemporary Hebrew poetry. Like many poets of her generation – first generation after WWII – Maya was born in Israel to immigrant parents (from Bulgaria). To a large extent, the poetry of these poets gives expression to two states of consciousness, one of existential apprehension inherited from their immigrant parents, and one of a wild sense of freedom and liberation. Most of these poets spoke a different language at home, and their encounter with Hebrew was often bewildering, but also invigorating. A lot has been said about the sepulchral weight that Hebrew has had to carry, but in Israel today the Bible and the "mekorot" (sources) are an integral part of everyday life and speech. Biblical references and allusions are commonly heard and used side by side with new slang words, and with locutions and technical terms borrowed from the English. This fusion of high and low, of the colloquial and the archaic, makes for interesting and exuberant juxtapositions, both in the language spoken on the street and in the poems. Bejerano’s work typifies this fusion and takes it to new and unique levels. The Hymns of Job and Other Poems is the first volume of Bejerano’s work to appear in English translation, thus bringing to the American reader a versatile and original poet.

Racket

for Dorit

Life racket, sickness racket
happy racket sad racket
spring racket
winter racket
what a racket in me
a racket of the particular and the vague
something wasteful and agreeable
the racket of travel and the racket of love
the racket of weakness or the racket of strength
the racket of brightness and the racket of darkness
the racket of meetings
the racket of longing for distances and fears
and the racket of children blurs them all;
the racket of kisses covers me all over
the racket of festivities the racket of movement
and listening to the racket of speech

© BOA Editions, Ltd 2008

Available editions:
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Cloth ISBN: 978-1-934414-16-3
Price: $22.95
Publishing Date: November 2008
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-934414-17-0
Price: $16.95
Publishing Date: November 2008

FormatPaperback , Hardcover

Publication DateNovember 1, 2008

ISBN978-1-934414-16-3

From $16.95

About the Author

Maya Bejerano

Maya Bejerano, a leading Israeli poet, is considered by many poetry readers as a national treasure. She was born in Israel in 1949, and holds a B.A. in Literature and Philosophy from Bar-Ilan University, and an M.A. in Library Sciences from Hebrew University. She has published ten volumes of poetry, and her collected poems, Frequencies, appeared in 2005. She has also published a children’s book, a book of essays, and two short stories collections. Her poems have been set to music, and her work has been translated into Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, and Vietnamese. She has participated in numerous international poetry festivals, and is the recipient of several poetry awards, including the Prime Minister Award, the Bernstein Award, and the Bialik Award.

Tsipi Keller

Tsipi Keller was born in Prague, raised in Israel, and has been living in the United States since 1974. Her short fiction and poetry translations have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. She is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowship. An anthology that she compiled and translated, Poets on the Edge – An Anthology of Contemporary Hebrew Poetry, was published by SUNY Press in 2008. Her translations of Maya Bejerano’s The Hymns of Job and Other Poems and Erez Bitton’s You Who Cross My Path were published by BOA Editions in 2008 and 2015.