Shifra Horn ( he, שפרה הורן ) (born 1951) is an Israeli author.

Biography

Shifra Horn was born in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

. She lives in the Old Malcha neighbourhood of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, New Zealand. After majoring in Bible Studies and Archeology - BA (Hons)- at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, she earned an MA in Bible Studies. Horn also studied mass communications and completed a teaching degree. Horn worked as an educational officer for the World Union of Jewish Students, and helped to organize the airlift of Ethiopian Jews to Israel. Horn also participated in the campaign to free

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

and Syrian Jews, producing films and written material. In the course of her work with Jewish students from oppressed communities around the world, she visited a village of Jewish

Marranos Marranos were Spanish and Portuguese Jews living in the Iberian Peninsula who converted or were forced to convert to Christianity during the Middle Ages, but continued to practice Judaism in secrecy. The term specifically refers to the cha ...

who had kept their Jewish identity secret for over 500 years. Horn's activity in the village of Belmonte in northwest

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

resulted in the entire population converting fully to Judaism. Horn was a spokesperson for the Israel Absorption Ministry until her departure for Japan, where she served as Far East correspondent for the Israel Defense Forces Radio station and

Ma'ariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening ''Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms ...

daily newspaper for five years. Horn worked as the director of the Tokyo Jewish Community Center and taught Bible Studies and Hebrew at the Bible College in Ginza, Tokyo. Upon her return to Jerusalem, she opened a public relations firm, and lectured on Japan and literary topics. Her books have been translated from

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

into English, French, Dutch, German, Italian, Greek, Mandarin and Turkish.

Published work

* Novels: ** ''Four Mothers'' ** ''The Fairest Among Women'' ** ''Tamara Walks On Water'' ** ''Ode to Joy'' ** ''Promenade A Deux'' * Non-fiction: ** ''Shalom Japan'' ** ''Cats'' ** ''A Love story'' ** ''The New Zealand Experience'' * Children's Book: ** ''The Perfect Pet'' ** ''Not by Day and Not by Night''

Awards

Horn won the Israeli

WIZO The Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO; he, ויצו ') is a volunteer organization dedicated to social welfare in all sectors of Israeli society, the advancement of the status of women, and Jewish education in Israel and the Dias ...

Prize for Literature (1997) and the Israeli Publishers` Association's Gold and Platinum Book Prizes for all five of her novels. She won the Globes Financial Newspaper prize "Literary Woman of the Year" 2002, and received the Prime Minister's Prize (2005) and the

Brenner Prize The Brenner Prize is an Israeli literary prize awarded annually by the Hebrew Writers Association in Israel and the Haft Family Foundation. It was founded in the name of the author Yosef Haim Brenner Yosef Haim Brenner ( he, יוֹסֵף חַ ...

(2006).2006 Brenner Prize awards (in Hebrew)
''Walla'' On-line, 5 June 2006 In addition Shifra Horn won the French WIZO Literary Prize and the Italian ADEI WIZO Prize for the novel " Ode to Joy ". Her latest novel "Promenade A Deux" won the culture minister award.

References

External links

Shifra Horn website
1951 births Living people Israeli women novelists Israeli novelists Modern Hebrew writers Brenner Prize recipients Israeli Jews Writers from Tel Aviv Maariv (newspaper) people Israeli expatriates in Japan Israeli journalists Israeli women journalists Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Recipients of Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works Jewish women writers {{Israel-writer-stub