In Israeli creative writing program, English is no longer a foreign ...

Posted by: in Writing on May 16th, 2012

There is an obscure legend among a handful of veterans and students in the Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Bar-Ilan University that the writer Amos Oz once declined an offer to address its conference because he didnt want to support non-Hebrew-language writing courses in Israel.

I cant verify this, says former acting director Michael Kramer, recalling a story he had heard years earlier from the programs late founder, Dr. Shaindy Rudoff. I have enormous respect and admiration for Amos Oz and can understand the sentiment. But part of Shaindys vision was to build a community among Israeli and Diaspora writers; and many Israeli writers, including Aharon Appelfeld and Meir Shalev, have participated in the programs activities over the years.

This week ? when the critically-acclaimed Israeli author Etgar Keret read an English translation of one of his short stories at the programs international writers conference in Ramat Gan ? some confirmed that the 10-year-old program has earned its place.

I think weve had a very profound influence, says an unabashed Allen Hoffman, the programs 69-year-old permanent writer-in residence and former fiction coordinator, whose retirement was marked at the three-day conference. There are large numbers of English-speaking olim who desire to be writers and participate in literature, and consequently there was a need for this program.

A native of Clayton, Missouri, Hoffman foresees an English-language literary record of aliyah emerging from a collective body of student work that often deals with the Israeli immigrant experience. These are the stories that people tend to write about, he says.

The programs two-year masters degree tracks in poetry and fiction, coupled with a penchant for attracting a cadre of prominent visiting writers, are drawing a diverse mix of local Israelis and international students, from aspiring writers to the more seasoned, says the programs director, Marcela Sulak. A third track, in creative non-fiction, will be introduced in the fall to the 50 students enrolled in the program.

Amanda Cohen, an editor and author of childrens books who moved here from Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2001, is now completing her masters thesis.

Having previously studied in New York City and having worked in London as an editor, Cohen recalled her initial concerns that the programs standard of teaching might not measure up to American and British writing programs. I was amazed and delighted to find that not the case, says Cohen, who attended the conferences opening session featuring the award-winning American novelist Joseph Skibell. Each teacher had something distinctive and enriching to offer [and] was open to each student writers individual expression.

Sophie Judah, a 62 year-old housewife and mother of five, arrived from India in 1972. Her collection of short stories, Dropped from Heaven, about a fictional community of Indian Jews, was published by Random House in 2007. I always wrote as a kid, but I always thought my writing was useless, says Judah, a member of her native countrys Bene Israel Jewish community, which claims descent from the lost 10 tribes of Israel. The creative writing program was the launching pad that helped me to develop my skills and recognize my own talent.

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