Anat Zecharia
Anat in Istanbul, October 2010
Anat Zecharia, born 1974 in Tel Aviv, is a writer and photographer. She teaches creative writing and writes dance reviews in "Time Out" Tel Aviv and is active in the "Artists' greenhouse for social activism" by Musrara Jerusalem. Her work has been published in various literary magazines and has been awarded the Streets Prize from the city of Tel Aviv, and the Sha’ar Poetry Festival Young Poet’s Prize. In 2008, Helicon published her first poetry collection, entitled As soon as Beautiful ( Yafa Ahat Kodem).
Anat Zecharia’s work is influenced by Israeli feminist poets like Yona Wallach and Agi Mishoi. Her poems cover sexuality and desire in a direct and uncensored language. Sexuality is often paired with power, but also with a wish to dedemonize it ( Let Me Be). You can often find a certain ambiguity in her poems. Herzl Saysfor example evokes both the harmless children’s game „Simon says...“ and the image of a dominating male giving orders. The fact that Herzl also could be interpreted as Theodor Herzl, the „father“ of Zionism, gives the poem a political perspective, which is another frequent characteristic in Anat Zechariat’s poems. There is often a political aspect to violence, like when a young girl, being raped by 35 soldiers, has „the map of greater Israel in [her] eyes“ ( A Woman Of Valor).The articulate physicalness and proud desire contrast with an awareness of fragility and danger that is hovering over the subjects of Zecharia’s poems. This reflects the political reality of Israel where “one small child with a slingshot is enough to set fire to all“ ( West Bank).
News
If you've been wondering what Word Express writers have been working on recently, you'll be pleased to hear that Owen Martell's novel 'Dyn Yr Eiliad' has been translated into Serbian by Milan Dobričić's Read the full story here.
Using photography and music from our multi-talented Word Express writer-travellers, we've put together this short slide show with music from Ivan Hristov's band Gologan.