Jews

Poetry. Jewish Studies. Middle Eastern Studies. With unflinching courage, clarity, and wit, Sami Shalom Chetrit has gone places no contemporary Israeli Hebrew poet has dared venture. These are places in which the brutality of separatist ideology, enforced identity, militarism, and military occupation, have attempted to blot out the ethics of memory and human relations. It is in these ruins that Chetrit’s rage, irony, and compassion create new ways of imagining realities we thought had reached a point of utter saturation. This collection finally allows English readers a chance to hear Chetrit’s vital and inspiring voice.–Ammiel Alcalay, professor of Comparative Literature Queens College and CUNY Graduate Center