This first anthology of twentieth-century Israeli literature to feature the work of writers who were born in—or whose families originated from—the Levant, Turkey, Iran, India and Arab worlds represents twenty-four authors whose concerns with cultural identity, race, class, gender and political allegiances place their work alongside today's emerging rediscovered and reinvented Arab, African, Indian, African-American and Caribbean traditions. "This brilliant collection makes the emphatic point that translation is of necessity political and gives us ample evidence of those who have been thus silenced. Our imagination of the Middle East and its peoples must alter, reading these completely moving texts by so many diverse writers of consummate authority. Ammiel Alcalay has done us all a great service."—Robert Creeley "We need this book! The soil is so deeply mixed, the stories and voices redolent with shared fragrances and new seedlings. Anyone who imagines Jews and Arabs to be strictly oppositional needs to explore the rich twining of roots offered here, and consider how this cross-pollination may hold the hope for the whole region. Ammiel Alcalay is a fine, wise gardener."—Naomi Shihab Nye "Having established himself as one of the most attentive readers of the Jewish-Arab Mediterranean past, Ammiel Alcalay sets out in this remarkable anthology to subversively redraw the boundaries and strata of modern Hebrew literature, introducing to the American reader key-notes that are almost inaudible within the Israeli literary establishment, and tracing the Oriental characters, long erased from the palimpsest of Hebrew literature."—Anton Shammas "A Jew writing in Arabic is not read in Israel . . . ' So writes Samir Naqqash. Ammiel Alcalay's remarkable selection of texts is a plea on behalf of Israeli imaginations in spiritual exile. One is driven to meditate on the genius of truth in every re-visionary monument of home."—Wilson Harris This comprehensive survey of the literature produced by Israeli mizrahim (Oriental Jews) covers 24 writers whose work has not appeared much in English?the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Jews or the Jews of the Levant and the Islamic world. The writers were born, or their families come from, Turkey, Iran, India, and the Arab world. Writings include short fiction, novel excerpts, and in-depth interviews. Mainly concerned with identity and politics, the work has more in common with new writing from emerging and rediscovered cultures than mainstream Israeli literature. The foreword provides substantial historical and cultural context for the work; comprehensive biographical notes and photos are provided for each contributor. Recommended for multicultural literary collections.?Molly Abramowitz, Silver Spring, Md. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. And As Far As What I Wanted by Ammiel Alcalay Bad Dream, Part 2 by Ammiel Alcalay Fighting At The Borders Within: An Interview With Tikva Levi by Ammiel Alcalay Making A Home For Poetry: An Interview With Yehezkel Kedmi by Ammiel Alcalay Then Slake Him From by Ammiel Alcalay There Was A Time: An Interview With Amira Hess by Ammiel Alcalay Writing: A Dialogue With The World by Ammiel Alcalay Fleeting Thrill by Shlomo Avayou From The Desert To The City Via Home by Shlomo Avayou Mothers Whispering Incantations by Shlomo Avayou Odalisque Of The Levant by Shlomo Avayou Washerwoman Under A Shady Tree by Shlomo Avayou Wildweed by Shlomo Avayou You Have To Abandon Jerusalem by Shlomo Avayou At A School For The Blind In Jerusalem by Erez Bitton Emendation Of The Aromas by Erez Bitton Families At A School For The Blind In Jerusalem by Erez Bitton Hoarse Rababa by Erez Bitton Moroccan Wedding by Erez Bitton On The Earthquake In Agadir by Erez Bitton Parable For The Laying Of The Foundation Of The House by Erez Bitton Shopping Song On Dizengoff by Erez Bitton Something On Madness by Erez Bitton Sulika's Qasida by Erez Bitton Summary Of A Conversation by Erez Bitton Zohra Al-fasiya's Song by Erez Bitton Acrid Memory by Sami Shalom Chetrit And Thou Shalt Teach Them Diligently To Thy Children by Sami Shalom Chetrit At An Auditorium Of A Local University by Sami Shalom Chetrit Bad Dream, Part 1: by Sami Shalom Chetrit Hey Jeep, Hey Jeep by Sami Shalom Chetrit A Night Of Scuds by Sami Shalom Chetrit On The Way To 'ayn Harod by Sami Shalom Chetrit Quick Take by Sami Shalom Chetrit Victory Parade by Sami Shalom Chetrit Who Is A Jew And What Kind Of A Jew?: 1. The Story Is Told: by Sami Shalom Chetrit Who Is A Jew And What Kind Of A Jew?: 2. Getting To ... Conversation by Sami Shalom Chetrit Who Is A Jew And What Kind Of A Jew?: 3. When I Left by Sami Shalom Chetrit The Crusader Man by Shelley Elkayam Garden Time by Shelley Elkayam The House Has To Have An Opening To The East by Shelley Elkayam A Kind Of Vague Yearning by Shelley Elkaya