Ronny Someck’s poetry, which has both a local and a universal flavor, has the ability to affect readers from all over the world. Ronny Someck was born in Baghdad in 1951 and immigrated to Israel with his family as a child. He has a BA in Hebrew Literature and Jewish Philosophy, has worked as a counselor for street children, and currently teaches literature in a secondary school as well as running writing workshops. His poetry deals with the most basic elements of daily life in an original and convincing way.
Someck brings his readers into situations where his own memories and personality are combined with the everyday reality of people with whom he works, people whose daily sorrows and happiness and whose inner worlds have deeply affected him. His is a humanistic view of the world and this element of humanity universalizes Someck’s poetry, allowing for the relative ease of its translation into other languages.
Ronny Someck is considered one of Israel’s most popular poets; for his eight collections of poetry he has twice received the Prime Minister’s Prize, in 1989 and in 2000; in 1999 he won both the Efrat Prize and that of Ahi (The Association for the Promotion of Research, Literature and Art, founded in Israel by Jews from Iraq). In 1987, Someck received the Jubilee Prize awarded by ACUM (the Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers in Israel) for special achievement. Someck participates in many festivals and other poetry events and he often cooperates with musicians and other artists. His poetry has been translated into 22 languages so far and it has been widely published both in Israel and abroad.
Also on this site
Combining East and West: Gabrielle David introduces Ronny Someck and his poetry
Foreign work and foreign workers: PIW editor Rami Saari on Ronny Someck’s ‘Arabic Work’
Bibliography
In Hebrew
Maxteret he-xalav(The Milk Underground), Zmora Bitan, 2005
Ha-metofef shel ha-mahpekha (The Revolution Drummer), Zmora Bitan, 2001
Gan ‛eden le-orez(Rice Paradise), Zmora Bitan, 1996
Bloody Mary(Bloody Mary), Zmora Bitan, 1994
Bardlas(Panther), Zmora Bitan, 1989
Sheva‛ shurot ‛al pele ha-Yarqon(Seven Lines on the Wonder of the Yarkon), Opatowsky/Tel Aviv Foundation , 1987
Asfalt(Asphalt), Massada, 1984
Solo(Solo), Massada, 1980
Gole (Exile), Massada, 1976
In Albanian
Shenja e kafshimit, Dudaj, 2001
In Arabic
The poem is a gangster’s girlFaridis, Paris, 1996
Yasmin(Jasmine), Ministry of Science and the Arts, Jerusalem, 1994
In Catalan
En paper de vidre, Barcelona, 2000
In English
The Fire Stays in Red, University of Wisconsin & Dryad Press, Madison, 2002
Selected Poems,Cabri-Print Workshop, Kibbutz Cabri, 1997
In French
Nés à Bagdad, with A. K. El Janabi, Stravit, Paris, 1998
In German
Selected Poems, Jüdisches Museum Wien, Vienna, 1997
In Italian
Il Rosso catalogo della parola tramonto, Il Laboratorio, Napoli, 2001
In Macedonian
Žito, Blesok, Skopje, 2003
Individual poems by Ronny Someck have been published in Albanian, Arabic, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, Georgian, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbo-Croat, Spanish and Ukrainian.
Links
In Catalan
Israel Sheli
Biographic note and links
In English
Modern Hebrew Literature - a Bio-Bibliographical Lexicon
A page in Hebrew and English dedicated to Ronny Someck and his publications
National Foundation for Jewish Culture
A story and two poems
Israel Center
Biography and three poems
Hebrew at Stanford
Biography and links to texts
Blesok
Biographic note
In French
Ronny Someck
Biographic note in English, links to 6 Someck poems in French and 3 in Romanian translation
In Hebrew
Shireshet
A photo and links to 25 poems
Wikipedia
Biography and list of publication
Modern Hebrew Literature - a Bio-Bibliographical Lexicon
A page in Hebrew and English dedicated to Ronny Someck and his publications
Vradim Ve-avaq
A page on the web site of the writer Alex Epstein, dedicated to Ronny Someck
An article by Uri Hollander on Someck’s book The Milk Undergroundwww.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArtPE.jhtml?itemNo=609979
Biography
Sofer
Biography
Dag anonimi
An article by Elad Yaacobi on Someck’s book The Drummer of the Revolution
Shirim shel Ronny Someck
Links to more than 40 poems by Someck
Nana – mixer
An interview with Someck
In Italian
Il laboratorio
Biography and a short article about Someck’s poetry
Interromania
Biography, 9 poems translated by Sarah Kaminski and 2 poems translated by Jack Arbib
In Macedonian
Ronny Someck: Žito
Biography
In Russian
Ronny Someck
Biography and 3 poems
In Serbo-Croat
Yurope
A story and a poem translated by David Albahari
In Spanish
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
A poem by Someck and a short biographical note
Ronny Someck on Lyrikline
