Poets on the Edge: An Anthology of Contemporary Hebrew Poetry (S U N Y Series in Modern Jewish Literature and Culture) (Suny Modern Jewish Literature and Culture) - Softcover

Poets on the Edge introduces four decades of Israel's most vigorous poetic voices. Selected and translated by author Tsipi Keller, the collection showcases a generous sampling of work from twenty-seven established and emerging poets, bringing many to readers of English for the first time. Thematically and stylistically innovative, the poems chart the evolution of new currents in Hebrew poetry that emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s and, in breaking from traditional structures of line, rhyme, and meter, have become as liberated as any contemporary American verse. Writing on politics, sexual identity, skepticism, intellectualism, community, country, love, fear, and death, these poets are daring, original, and direct, and their poems are matched by the freshness and precision of Keller's translations.

"...an introduction for an English-speaking audience to the wealth of contemporary poets writing in Israel today ... The careful translations are sensitive to both Hebrew cadence and English idiom. Covering a wide range of themes including love, politics, doubt, death, identity, and even poetry itself, these poems are a carefully curated collection." -- Jewish Book World

"This poetry from Israel reveals a culture far more diverse than American stereotypes would suggest ... [The poets] share ... a precision of language and feeling that should seem both familiar and fresh to non-Israeli readers of poetry." -- HeadButler.com

"This new anthology of Hebrew poetry in translation has two special strengths--tremendous depth and a personal touch ... It's clear that [Keller] has strong feelings on which poets matter, and wants to explain why they matter." -- Jerusalem Post

"Poets on the Edge deserves to be in every poetry lover's library, and should be on every Jewish bookshelf. Not since Carmi's 1981 The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse has a volume of such significance been published." -- The Jewish Daily Forward

"...a feast of a book ... brilliantly translated by a gifted poet. For American readers, who are likely to know much more about Israeli fiction than its poetry, ... Poets on the Edge will be a revelation." -- Alicia Suskin Ostriker, JBooks.com

"This commendable project casts a wide net, demonstrating the impressive range of urgencies and preoccupations in the contemporary literary landscape of Israel." -- Critical Mass, the blog of the national book critics circle board of directors

"This comprehensive and amazing anthology is a great read best taken slowly, savoring each page of outstanding poetry. Tsipi Keller has had the patience and intelligence to select a stimulating and powerful group of poems, with accurate and very readable translations." -- Shirley Kaufman

"Poets on the Edge is a true masterpiece. The translations are sensitive, wise, graceful, and insightful; the selection is rich and inviting. What a brilliant achievement!" -- Miriyam Glazer, American Jewish University

"Keller's breathtaking anthology, some twenty years in the making, shows that voices of contemporary Israeli poetry can be compellingly narrative, elegantly lyrical, elegiac, passionate, eccentric, and even phantasmagoric. Her translations convey the skepticism, wit, and energy of these poets who speak of loves and breakups, query their places in Jewish history, contemplate metaphysical questions, and paint pictures of everyday life in Israel." -- Lynn Levin, Drexel University and The University of Pennsylvania

Contributors include Yehuda Amichai, Dan Armon, David Avidan, Maya Bejerano, Ruth Blumert, T. Carmi, Raquel Chalfi, Aminadav Dykman, Mordechai Geldman, Tamir Greenberg, Israel Har, Hedva Harechavi, Sharron Hass, Irit Katzir, Tsipi Keller, Yitzhak Laor, Agi Mishol, Amir Or, Dan Pagis, Hava Pinhas-Cohen, Ruth Ramot, Dahlia Ravikovitch, Asher Reich, Shin Shifra, Ronny Someck, Yona Wallach, Meir Wieseltier, Natan Zach, and Nurit Zarhi.