Karen Alkalay-Gut



Karen Alkalay-Gut (born 29 March 1945) is an award-winning poet, professor, and editor who lives in Israel and writes in English.

Personal life
Born in London on the last night of the Blitz buzz bombs, Alkalay-Gut moved with her parents and brother Joseph Rosenstein to Rochester, New York in 1948. She graduated from the University of Rochester, with a BA with honors, and a MA in English literature in 1967. From 1967-70 she taught at the State University of New York at Geneseo before returning to complete her doctorate. In 1972 she moved to Israel, and began teaching at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev (1972-6). In 1977 she moved to Tel Aviv University, where she continues to teach.

Work
In 1980 her first collection, Making Love: Poems appeared with the aid and editorial assistance of poet David Avidan, and she has published over twenty books since. Her poetry has also appeared in Hebrew, French, Arabic, Yiddish, Rumanian, Polish, Russian, German, Turkish, Persian and Italian. Her concern with multimedia has brought about collaborations with fashion houses such as Comme il faut, as well as sculpture, graffiti, ceremonies. Her translations of Hebrew poetry have numbered in the hundreds.

As a critic, Alkalay-Gut is the author of a biography of Adelaide Crapsey as well as numerous articles on Victorian and contemporary literature. She has participated in numerous anthologies, encyclopedias and edited volumes. She has also translated poetry and drama from Hebrew and other languages, including Yehuda Amichai, Raquel Chalfi, and Hanoch Levin. In 1980 Alkalay-Gut helped found the Israel Association of Writers in English, and has been the chair since 1995. She also serves as vice-chair of the Federation of Writers’ Unions, and is an editor of the Jerusalem Review.

In English

 * Making Love: Poems. Tel Aviv: Achshav, 1980
 * Butter Sculptures (Hebrew). Tel Aviv: Ha kibbutz Hameuchad, 1983. Mechitza. New York: Cross-Cultural Communications, 1986
 * Ignorant Armies. Tel Aviv: Tentative Press, 1992
 * Between Bombardments. Tel Aviv: Tentative Press, 1992
 * Love Soup. Tel Aviv: Tentative Press, 1992
 * High School Girls. Tel Aviv: Tentative Press, 1992
 * Recipes. Tel Aviv: Golan, 1994 Harmonies/ Disharmonies. Etc. Editions, 1994
 * Ignorant Armies. New York: Cross Cultural Communications, 1994
 * I/Thou and Other War Poems (Hebrew). Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad,1994
 * Paranormal Poems (Hebrew). Gvanim, 1997
 * Life in Israel—November 1995-1996. Whistle Press, 1997.
 * So Far So Good. Boulevard, 2004.
 * Danza del ventre a tel aviv. Kololbris, 2010
 * ''Layers::. Simple Conundrums. 2012

In Hebrew

 * Pislei Chema. Kibbutx Hameuchad. 1983.
 * Ata, Ani, veod Shei Milchama. Kibbutx Hameuchad, 1989.
 * HaAltivi Behayei Yomyom.. Gvanim, 1990.
 * Ahavat Begadim ve Erom. Kibbutz Hameuchad, 1999.
 * Ta'avot Shuliot. Kibbutz Hameuchad, 2004.
 * Shomrei Neurei. Keshev, 2011.
 * Nisim vechulei. Keshev, 2012.

Non-fiction

 * Alone in the Dawn: The Life of Adelaide Crapsey. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, December 1988.

Discography

 * The Paranormal in Our Daily Lives. with Liz Magnes, 1999
 * ''Thin Lips." with Roy Yarkoni and Yishai Sommer, Pookh, 2004.
 * ''Panic Ensemble". Earsay Records, 2008.
 * ''A Different Story," Nandisc, 2012.