Two of Israeli literature’s luminaries – Dalya Bilu and Eshkol Nevo – will be in Chicago to discuss the explosion in Israeli fiction writing later this month. Their conversation, free and open to the public, is set for 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 27, at the Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St., Chicago. The program is sponsored by the Petach Tikvah Sister City Committee.
The discussion will be moderated by Rachel S. Harris, assistant professor of comparative and world literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she teaches Israeli literature and culture.
Bilu, generally regarded as the leading translator of Israeli Hebrew literature, has received awards for her work from the Israel Culture and Education Ministry, the Times Literary Supplement and the Jewish Book Council.
Nevo has published two best-selling novels (“Homesick” and “World Cup Wishes”), a non-fiction book (The Breaking Up Manual) and a collection of short stories (Bed & Breakfast.) He has received Gold and Platinum Prizes from the Book Publishers Association and the FFI-Raymond Wallier Prize from the Paris Salon du Livre, and “Homesick” was runner-up for the prestigious Independent Foreign Fiction Prize last year.
Bilu is currently visiting the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in a program supported in part by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago’s Israel Studies Project, which also provides support for the position held by Prof. Harris. The April 27 program is presented with special support from the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest.
