Elisha Porat

                                                          

Magna on Magna Feature Interview with Elisha Porat, the 1996 winner of Israel's Prime Minister's Prize for Literature, an Hebrew poet and writer, who has published 21 volumes of fiction and poetry, in Hebrew, since 1973. Elisha Porat was born in Kibbutz Ein Hahoresh in 1938. His works have appeared in translation in Israel, the United States, Canada and England. The English translation of his short stories collection "The Messiah of LaGuardia", Mosaic Press, was released in 1997. The English translation of his second stories collection "PAYBACK", was published 2002 at Wind River Press. His new novel "EPISODE", a biographical novel, just released by "Y&H" Publishers, Israel, 2006.His works, poetry and fiction, were translated from Hebrew into English, and were published, in print and online, in selected literary stage. Elisha Porat's works were published at Midstream, Tikkun, Ariel,War Literature and Arts, Rattle, Porcupine, Oyster Boy Review, Another Chicago Magazine, Boston Review, Snake Nation Review, The Paumanok Review, The Pedestal Magazine, Poetry Magazine, Jewish Quarterly, Deep South, and others.

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Question: Elisha, you are an internationally-acclaimed poet, the author of twenty-one volumes of poetry and fiction, and the winner of Israel’s Prime Minister’s Prize for Literature. Do you ever tire of poetry and the written word?

Answer: First let me correct you concerning being an internationally-acclaimed poet. Perhaps I and my poems are known over internet, due to the wide translation of my work to English. But in reality, I am not so known among the readers of Hebrew poetry in Israel. I have always lived in my kibbutz, Ein Hahoresh, which is a small village in the periphery. The literary life in Israel is concentrated in Tel Aviv, a big city and the only real cultural center of Israel. In order to be really known and famous, Israeli poets must live in Tel Aviv or its closed neighborhood.

Concerning your question: creativity in literature, and I assume it is the same with creativity in other arts, is an integral part of the life of the creator. For me to live means, among other things, also to create. But, exactly as in life, there are periods when the intensive engagement in creativity is disturbed and delayed by additional string factors, such as physical or spiritual health, family affairs, etc. There are necessary breaks in the creative life of every creator. But in my opinion they do not result from being tired. As long as I live, I sing, I write poetry, I see the world, I imagine it, I interpret it. And of course, all these are performed by my tool of expression, the tool of the written word.

Question : You were born in 1938 on kibbutz Ein Hahoresh, a kibbutz your parents helped form in Israel, and you remain there today. How important is this personal history to you as a writer?

Answer: Very important indeed. Since I have been really living all my life in the small place where I was born and grew up, I view the kibbutz, but also the world, in a triangular, three-dimensional manner, if it could be said so, where the dimension of depth is the dimension of the varying time. I view my kibbutz as it really looks today, including the occurring painful changes. But in the same time I view through the eyes of my memory, and as you certainly know, many of my poems are memory poems – the Ein Hahoresh of my childhood and youth. The natural landscape of fifty and sixty years ago. And also the human landscape of those times. The generation of my parents who are all lying now in our small local cemetery. And the third dimension of my view is the dimension of the dream: I view in my dreams the fantasized Ein Hahoresh, this which I have been viewing all my life in my night dreams. This fantasized dream view is the combination of the kibbutz that I remember from my childhood, with my desires: how I want it to look like. With the fears that I had in my childhood, like those of any little child in the world. With the forbidden desires, with the surprising discoveries that any adolescent experiences where he lives. And some times I am walking between the lawns and parks of the real Ein Hahoresh, but simultaneously view my ancient Ein Hahoresh, and also the Ein Hahoresh of above which is revealed to me only during magic moments of revelation.

Question : The English translation of your short stories collection, The Messiah of LaGuardia (Mosaic Press) was released in 1997. The English translation of your second short story collection, Payback, was published in 2002 through Wind River Press. Your latest novel, Episode, was released by Y&H publishers in 2006. Are there more books like this in your future, and will they be in English?

Answer: I regard the English translation of my creations as real miracle, wonder and magic. I have never imagined that my books would be translated into a foreign language, including English. But I am definitely very fortunate: without the support of the Establishment, without the Institute for Translations, without any formal assistance, my translated creations were published. All the translations were made out of love! Both the translators of my prose, and the translators of my poetry, all came with love and performed their work for the love of literature! And I am of course very thankful to them for this. For this reason you would also understand that I do not have a planned policy about translations, I am just a private man, an aging kibbutz member with very limited economical possibilities. But thanks to my dedicated translators, who did a wonderful job, I have crossed the narrow bridge, separating between the Hebrew language, which is an unconsidered small-minority language – and the large gate of the English language. For one reason or another, the English language is today the language of the world. And furthermore, it has become the language of the whole universe! For good of for bad, the English language is the Lingua Franca of the universe.

Question : Episode is autobiographical, yet a novel. How much of your personal life enters each book that you write?

Answer: Indeed, I had a certain difficulty writing Episode. First I have planned to write the real biography Arie Leopold Lahola, the major personality of the book. But while writing, I found that I wanted to write also about my late father, Eliyahu (Elijah) Porat of blessed memory, who was a pioneer that drained swamps in the Hefer Valley in the thirties. But he also was a typical Jewish intellectual, multilingual who knew many languages, and a talented translator. And during the process of writing, personal experiences on mine entered too, completely personal. All these entered into the framework of the supposedly biographical novel of Episode. And may be because of this the book is not complete, but is also attractive and introduces curiosity. Since in addition to the story of the major personality, there are in the book tensions and exciting inter-relations between his life and, e.g., the life of my late father, and between his life and my life.

Question : Your father translated Canadian humorist Stephen Leacock’s writing into Hebrew. You, yourself, have had much of your work translated into other languages. Just how much of an art is it to translate, and are you comfortable with trusting your words in the pen of another?

Answer: Yes, it is very interesting that I particularly have a Canadian literature connection. My father was a humorist himself, and wrote humoresques for the kibbutz parties and holidays. He had been reading English very well, and was happy when the humoresques book of Stephen Leacock fell into his hands. He wrote few humoresques, where he carefully noted that they were written following, or according to the humoresques of Leacock. He also dedicated few humoresques to him. I have an additional Canadian connection: Some of my poems have been translated by Seymour Mayne, a famous and creative Jewish-Canadian poet. Seymour Mayne, who is a charismatic English Professor in the Ottawa University, is also a well known translator, and translated poetry from various languages to English. And I have another Canadian connection: my first book in English, The Messiah of LaGuardia, was published by Mosaic Press, Oakville, Toronto. So that completely a chance, but a good chance, connects between me and Canada.

Concerning your question whether I am comfortable with trusting my translators, the answer is that I have, of course, learned from experience to trust them. It was not easy in the beginning, because of the differences in the taste in literature, in its temper, and in my basic limited English. But I have improved a little with time, and they have learned to listen to the hidden nuances of my creations, and to direct themselves very well to what I say, and to what I mean to say. And after all, most of the poets are not translators, and we are obliged, to good and to bad, and I believe that mainly to good, to trust the translators. In the global modern world, it is impossible to manage without translation from one language to another. A text of literature is unique in its translation requirements, and as you know poets are not easy people. So that if I were so fortunate to get translators who did good to me and to my creations, then I have to bless about it.

Sincerely,

Elisha Porat,

End of May, 2007.

Interview conducted by Aurora Antonovic. English/Hebrew translation provided by Dr. Josef Ashkenazi.

photograph of Elisha Porat taken by Reuven Schwartz

Comments

[Zdravka Evtimova]

I enjoy reading Elisha Porat's poetry which in my opinion is of highest literary quality with its honesty, evocativeness and beauty of language. It is down-to-earth and everlasting at the same time.
I translated several of his poems into Bulgarian and I can share with you that the Bulgarian readres were deeply impressed by them. Some of my friends asked me where they could find more poems written by him.
In my opinion, Elisha Porat is a man who inspires love and respect for Isral in the hearts of all people who have read at least one of his poems or short stories.

[Jacob (Kobi) Jorne]

Very inspiring interview. It would be beneficial to research why so many writers and poets (Elisha Porat, Yehudit Kafri, Amira Hagani, Snunit, Nurit Gertz) and artists came from the two or three very small groups of children of early Ein Hahoresh. The high % cannot be explained simply by the intellect of the founding parents. There were other kibbutzim like Ein Hahoresh. I invite the mentioned above writers and others to discuss this unusual phenomena.
Jacob (Kobi) Jorne, the son of Runa and Eliezer Jorne, founding members of Ein hahoresh

[Robert]

Very inspiring interview.

[Matt]

Very cool interview. I enjoyed reading about your viewpoints, Elisha.

[Kiera]

I enjoyed this a lot, Elisha. It is always good to read the viewpoints of a honed writer. Sincerely, Kiera

[David Herrle]

Astute and sharp, Elisha!

[elisha porat]

Dear readers dear friends, thak you very much for your encouraging comments. Special thanks to Aurora Antonivic. Its a long long way from my small kibbutz. Israel, from the endless burning wars, tragedies and death, of the Mideast - to the peacefull atmospher of Canada and US. Your positive comments are as a cold water in a hot day to me. Thanks!

[Aurora]

Dear Elisha,

We're so happy to hear from you, and honoured that you are part of Magnapoets.

[Bryan]

I learned alot here from a master of poetry. This was excellent.

[Bobbi Lurie]

Dear Elisha,

Beautiful poetry from you!

(I'm very grateful to know of your work)

I just feel I must say: I believe it is impossible for anyone to be "acclaimed" by those who know us (I think of "family" and "friends" when I write this)
Better to write in Kibbutz Ein Hahoresh, I believe, than Tel Aviv.

The U.S. is not so peaceful either. (I do not compare places since I've lived in both but still...cold water for so many Americans might be the dream of living in Kibbutz Ein Hahoresh)--(but not Givat Brenner--I once lived there).

Forgive me for sharing this but this is the only proposal I could come up with (considering all that is happening) for Peace in the Middle East (it's cut and pasted from previous e-mails with innocents protected from my desperation for a solution (like all of us)

-----Original Message-----
From: bobbi.lurie@gmail.com
To:
Sent: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 1:19 pm
Subject: FOCUS ON PAVLOVA: PROPOSED PEACE TREATY FOR THE MIDDLE EAST AND PATHETIC MESS WORLD

Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:15:56 +0100
From: A B <@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: FOCUS ON PAVLOVA: PROPOSED PEACE TREATY FOR THE MIDDLE EAST

I'm lucky, I don't like eggs, :-)

Anny, Gabrielle and everyone,

What I omitted from this recipe was my true intention.
Yes, it was meant for Catherine and her collection.

But mostly it is my offering for Peace in the Middle East and the whole world looking about to be blown up. See, I figure, if

ANYONE-ANYWHERE-ANYTIME-FOREVERMORE sits and eats this pavlova:

THERE'S NO WAY ANYONE EATING THIS PAVLOVA IS GONNA THINK A BIT ABOUT
WAR OR WHOSE SIDE THEY'RE ON AND AFTERWARDS HERE'S THE BEST PART: you need
a nap--you've absolutely gotta sleep after eating this...

No-way-no-how to blow up self and others in past-pavlova euphoria (which, as I mentioned, involves the need to nap).

So this is MY OFFERING FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

(i do pray it works...please "focus on pavlova"--world of ours pathetic mess)

Bobbi Lurie

On 10/30/07, G W < wrote:

>
> oh god! i'm fainting... and my birthday's coming up... :-)
>
> On Tue, 30 Oct 2007, Bobbie Lurie wrote:
>
> > Catherine, Here is my recipe for "Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova"--I owe it
> > all to Nigella Lawson after 3 years in England, trying to make a pavlova
> > cause pavlova's are big there (but this is the only one that's worked
> > for me--and it's delicious!). I recommend this to EVERYONE as a
> > replacement birthday cake or any other time a celebration is in order
> > (which is always, of course, so please don't hesitate)
> >
> > CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY PAVLOVA
> >
> > for the chocolate meringue base:
> > 6 egg whites
> > 1 cup granulated sugar
> > 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
> > 1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
> > 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
> >
> > for the topping:
> > 2 1/4/ cups heavy cream
> > 1 very full pint raspberries
> > 2-3 tablespoons coarsely grated
> > bittersweet chocolate
> >
> >
> > Preheat the oven to 350/ line baking sheet with parchment paper
> >
> > Beat egg whites until satiny peaks form/ then beat in sugar/ a spoonful
> at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny. Sprinkle over the cocoa and
> vinegar and the chopped chocolate. Gently fold verything until cocoa is
> thoroughly mixed in. Mound onto a baking sheet in fat circle approx. 9
> inches in diameter, smoothing the sides and top. Place in the over, then
> immediately turn the temperature down to 300 F/ cook for approx 1-1/4 hrs
> When it's ready it should look crisp around the edges and on the sides and
> be dry on top/ when you prod the center you should feel the promise of
> squidginess beneath your fingers. Turn off the oven and open the door
> slightly, and let the chocolate meringue disk cool and completely.
> > When you're ready to serve, invert onto a big, flat-bottomed plate.
> Whisk the cream till thick but still soft and pile it on top of the
> meringue, then scatter over the raspberies. Coarsely grate the chocolate so
> that you get curls rather than rubble, as you don't want the raspberries'
> luscious color and form to be obscured, and sprinke haphazardly over te top,
> letting some fall, as it will, on the plate's rim.
> >
> > Bobbi Lurie (serve with VERY strong coffee)