The critic and translator brings the first published biography of one of Israel’s most prominent writers to Book Week, exploring his novels, essays, activism and family life.

Critic, translator and biblical scholar Robert Alter brings the first published biography of Amos Oz to Book Week.

Oz was one of Israel’s most prominent writers, a regular contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the author of dozens of novels, essay collections, and novellas in a career spanning over half a century. This seminal work also explores his mother’s suicide; his time in Kibbutz Hulda following his separation from his father aged 14; his family’s right-wing Zionism; and his activism in support of a pluralistic Israel. Alter brings together testimony from Oz and his circle, as well as close readings of his central works, to present the inner world and public persona.

Buy a copy of Amos Oz by Robert Alter from Blackwells.

This event will last approximately 1 hour, without an interval.

Digital events will take place over Zoom, with an event link sent to bookers 24 hours in advance of the event and a reminder email 30 minutes before the event starts. Ticket holders for digital events will also be sent a link to a recording of the event, available to watch until the end of March.

Book Week 24 Digi-Pass gives access to all 16 online streaming events for £39.50.

About the speakers:

Nicholas de Lange has written widely about Judaism and Jewish history, specialising in Greek-speaking Judaism. His latest book is The Jews of Byzantium. He is the Visiting Rabbi of the Etz Hayyim Synagogue in Hania, Crete.

Robert Alter is professor of the Graduate School and emeritus professor of Hebrew and comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley. His many books include The Pleasures of Reading in an Ideological Age, Imagined Cities: Urban Experience and The Language of the Novel, and Pen of Iron: American Prose and the King James Bible (Princeton).