Amichai, Yehuda

(b. 1924)

   Israeli writer. Amichai was born in Wurzburg, but moved to Jerusalem at the age of twelve. He fought in both World War II and in the Israeli War of Independence. His collections of poetry include Akhshav Uveyamim Ha’aherim (‘Now and in Other Days’, 1955), Bemerhak Shtei Tivot (‘Two Hopes Apart’, 1958), Akhshav Bara’ash (‘Now in the Noise’, 1968). His poems are influenced by those of W.H.Auden, T.S.Eliot and Dylan Thomas, but in his later work his verse is less formally constructed. His prose volumes include Baruah Hanora’ah Hazot (1961) which is translated as The World is a Room and Other Stories (1984), the novel Lo Me’akhshav, Lo Mikan (‘Not of this Time, Not of This Place’, 1962), several radio plays and the drama Masa ‘Leninveh (‘Journey to Nineveh’, 1962) based on the Biblical story of Jonah. Much of Amichai’s work is concerned with spiritual themes and he is much exercised by the relationship between Jewish identity and religious orthodoxy. Through translation his work is well known in the English-speaking world and he has spent time in American Uni versities as poet-in-residence. Among his many awards, he has won the Bialik Prize in 1975 and the Israel Prize for Literature.