Dreaming the Actual: Contemporary Fiction and Poetry by Israeli Women Writers »

Glazer (literature, U. of Judaism, Los Angeles) presents 19 short studies and 69 poems written by 31 different Israeli women writers in the 1990s. Brief introductions place the works in context. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Library Journal

This collection of contemporary fiction and poetry by Israeli women writers includes works originally written in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, and English. Rather than constituting a cohesive group, these writers form more of a mosaic of different cultural types. They are multigenerational; they have come from many countries to Israel and have very different political, social, and religious backgrounds. The stories and poetry portray coming of age, the unease of sexuality, and much discussion of the meanings of homeland, exile, and diaspora in addition to many aspects of memory. In Nurit Zarchi s Madame Bovary in Neve Tsedek, for instance, the power of women s imagination and power is explored in a surrealistic framework. Along with another recent anthology, New Women s Writing from Israel (Vallentine Mitchell, 1996), which does not include poetry, and numerous individually authored collections of short stories and novels (e.g., Zeruya Shalev s Love Life, LJ 1/00), Israeli women writers are now well represented in English. They give English-speaking readers a window into Israeli culture, plus, in most cases, an awareness of Jewish sensibilities as seen by women. Molly Abramowitz, Silver Spring, MD Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.