In the mind of Etgar Keret: An interview on Tzuzamen

“The writer is neither saint nor tzaddik nor prophet standing at the gate; he's just another sinner who has a somewhat sharper awareness and uses slightly more precise language to describe the inconceivable reality of our world," Israeli writer Etgar Keret wrote in his dark real-life memoir The Seven Good Years.

Keret, considered one of Israel's most revered living authors, has made a career around his ability to dive into the point of view of a single individual and illustrate the transformational events that await a character.

In Israel, he is best known for his colorful, surreal short stories, as well as his script and graphic novel writings. Keret's published works have been translated into dozens of languages and circulated throughout just a many countries. Many of Keret’s works have been translated into English, including The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God, Missing Kissinger and Suddenly, a Knock on the Door.

In 1996, Keret won the Prime Minister’s Award for Literature, in 2010 he was honored with the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France and in 2012 he received the Newman Prize from Bar-Ilan University.

Join Israeli writer, director and producer Tzipi Trope and philanthropist and producer Tzili Charney this week for an in-depth discussion with Keret as they dive into the mind of the award-winning writer.

Tzipi and Tzili delve deep into Keret's character selection processes, his story building practices, how to maintain freedom of expression when translating depictions from one language to another, and how Keret uses his real life experiences and the people around him to create his surreal fantasies and then put them to paper.

The Ramat Gan-born 53-year-old's dark, humoristic short stories tend to center around character's shortcomings, prejudices and nearsightedness with the inability to see the bigger picture. He has touched on the global themes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Holocaust, and tends to focus on topics than many others would shy away from.

Recently, Keret produced a story depicting the first-person description of a woman who is scared to leave the confines of her during a lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic. He noted to The Jerusalem Post in a conversation that he doesn't “try to write the opposite of what other people feel," but he uses his personal surroundings to created these sort of twisted fantasies or situations that can occur within real life.

Tzipi and Tzili discuss exactly this and more on this week's episode of Tzuzamen.

Tune in to discover Keret's extraordinary observational and people-watching skills, how he builds characters from these observations, his personal swing on everyday life events and how he incorporates all of this is to his successful career and published works.

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Tzili Charney is a curator, costume designer, producer, and philanthropist. As a philanthropist, she is devoting all her efforts to improving the fields of education, conflict resolution and peace. She upholds her late husband Leon Charney, position as chairman of his real estate business at L.H. Charney Associates in New York, and continued his diplomatic legacy by founding the Charney Resolution Center in Israel in his honor. Tzili serves as vice chairman of the University of Haifa’s Board of Governors, where she and Leon founded the Marine Sciences School.

 

About Tzipi Trope

Tzipi Trope was born in Israel. She holds a BA in Music and Sociology from Tel Aviv University and an MA and Ph.D. in Film and TV from the University of Michigan. Her doctoral dissertation is on Andre’s Bazin’s Mise-en-scene Theory. 

Tzipi has her own company, Maya Films Ltd. She writes, directs and produces documentaries and feature films. She is also an associate arts professor at Tisch.

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