Erez Biton (; born 1942 in

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

) is an Algerian-born Israeli poet of Moroccan descent. He is the 2015 recipient of the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

for Hebrew Literature and Poetry, among other literary awards.

Biography

Erez Biton was born in

in a

Moroccan Jewish Moroccan Jews (; ; ) are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman times. Jews began immigrating to the region as early as 70 CE. They were much later met by a second wave of migrants fro ...

family. His family fled

in 1948, and made

aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

to Israel. He grew up in

Lod Lod (, ), also known as Lydda () and Lidd (, or ), is a city southeast of Tel Aviv and northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lower Shephelah on the east and the coastal plain on the west. The ci ...

. At the age of 10, he lost his vision and his left hand to a stray

hand grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

that he had found. The following year he went to school at Jerusalem's Institute for the Blind. He earned a B.A. in

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

from the

Hebrew University in Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

and an M.A. in psychology at

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...

. Biton is married to Rachel Calahorra Biton and the couple have two children.

Career

Following his studies, Biton worked as a social worker in

Ashkelon Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The modern city i ...

for seven years and as a psychologist in an outlying town. He worked as a journalist and published a weekly column in the Israeli mainstream daily ''

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

''. His first book, ''Mincha Marokait'' (Moroccan Gift), published in 1976, established him as the founding father of Mizrahi poetry in Israel.

Published works

Poetry

*''Mincha Maroka'it'' () "Moroccan Gift," Eked, 1976 *''Sefer Hana'na'' () "The Book of Mint," Eked, 1979 *''Tsipor bein Yabashot'' () "Intercontinental Bird", 1990 *''Timbisert, Tsipor Maroka'it'' (), "Timbisert, a Moroccan Bird", Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 2009 *''Nofim Khavushei Einayim'' () "Blindfolded Landscapes", Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 2013 *''Bet Hapsanterim'' (Hebrew: בית הפסנתרים) "The House of Pianos", Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 2015

Drama

*''Sulika'' () "Soulika", Snir, 2005

Awards and recognition

*(2015) Biton was awarded the

for Literature, the first

Mizrahi ''Mizrachi'' or ''Mizrahi'' () has two meanings. In the literal Hebrew meaning ''eastern'', it may refer to: * Mizrahi Jews, Jews from the Middle East and North Africa * Mizrahi (surname), a Sephardic surname, given to Jews who got to the Iberia ...

Jew to receive it. The prize committee described his poems as being "the epitome of courageous dealings, sensitive and deep with a wide range of personal and collective experiences centered around the pain of migration, planting roots in the country, and the reestablishment of the Mizrahi identity as an integral part of the overall Israeli portrait." *(2014)

Bialik Prize The Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel, for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Israel's national poet Hayyim Nahman Bialik. There are two separate p ...

for Lifetime Achievement *(2014) Yehuda Amichai Prize *(1988) Prime Minister's Prize *(1982) Miriam Talpir Prize

References

External links

Biography and bibliography
at the Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature
Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World
by Stanley Nash, p 6 sq {{DEFAULTSORT:Biton, Erez Israeli poets Israeli columnists Israeli social workers 1942 births Living people Bar-Ilan University alumni Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare alumni Algerian people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Algerian emigrants to Israel Algerian people with disabilities Israeli blind people Israel Prize in Hebrew poetry recipients Blind poets