Shay K. Azoulay
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Shay K. Azoulay () is an Israeli writer who writes in English and
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
.


Plays

Azoulay's debut play, "The Platoon", a satire about the IDF, won first place in the 2012 staged reading festival "Zav Kriah". The play was staged in Tel Aviv's Tzavtah Theater in 2014-2015 and received good reviews in the press, including a review by prominent theater critic
Michael Handelzalts Michael Handelzalts (; born 1950) is an Israeli theater critic. Biography Michael Handelzalts was born in Poland. His grandfather, Elyahu Handelzalc, was a teacher and writer from Warsaw, Poland who fled the city in 1939. He is believed to have ...
, who compared it to the work of
Hanoch Levin Hanoch Levin (; December 18, 1943 – August 18, 1999) was an Israeli dramatist, theater director, author and poet, best known for his plays. His absurdist style is often compared to the work of Harold Pinter and Samuel Beckett. Biography Lev ...
. The play also stirred controversy, following an article which mistakenly claimed that the play depicts IDF soldiers raping
Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...
women. A member of the
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
municipal council sent a letter to the theater, demanding that they stop the staging of the play. Azoulay's other work includes the one-act play "Shade", which participated in the Tzavtah Theater's 2012 Short play Festival, and "Barabas" - a reimagining of
Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe ( ; Baptism, baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), also known as Kit Marlowe, was an English playwright, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the English Renaissance theatre, Eli ...
's "
The Jew of Malta ''The Jew of Malta'' (full title: ''The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Jew of Malta'') is a play by Christopher Marlowe, written in 1589 or 1590. The plot primarily revolves around a Maltese Jewish merchant named Barabas. The original story combi ...
".


Fiction

Azoulay's debut novel ''
Lazaretto A lazaretto ( ), sometimes lazaret or lazarette ( ), is a quarantine station for maritime travelers. Lazarets can be ships permanently at anchor, isolated islands, or mainland buildings. In some lazarets, postal items were also disinfected, usu ...
'' was published in summer 2019 in Hebrew. A review in ''
Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...
'' described the novel as “an ambitious, high-tension novel, seeped in paranoia... ''Lazaretto'' is a disturbing and stirring
dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...
which haunted me while I was reading it and even after I’d finished.” The novel was named "Book of the Year" by ''
LaIsha ''La'Isha'' (, "For the Woman") is an Israeli lifestyle magazine for women. It has been published on a weekly basis since 1947, and is owned by Yedioth Ahronoth media group.
'' Magazine which dubbed it "the novel that predicted the
pandemic A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...
" Azoulay has also written a series of short stories entitled "Minor Writers of the Entropic Age". These stories include "The Invention of
H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...
", published in ''Flapperhouse'' Magazine, "The Bard of Hastings" published in ''The Cost of Paper'' and "Permaculture", which won second prize in the 2016 '' Zoetrope: All-Story'' short fiction contest. Also included in this series is "Jacob Wallenstein, Notes for a Future Biography", a work of fiction regarding a "forgotten" Israeli
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
novelist and his 1,000 page
magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...
. In 2013 Azoulay submitted this story to '' Tablet'' magazine, claiming that it was a true account of the nonexistent writer's life and work. An editor at the magazine was initially excited by the story, but eventually discovered that it was a
hoax A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible. S ...
, though he decided to publish the story anyway, together with a forward explaining his discovery of the hoax. Other short works by Azoulay have appeared in ''The Molotov Cocktail'' and ''
McSweeney's Internet Tendency McSweeney's Publishing is an American nonprofit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. The executive director is Amanda Uhle. McSweeney's first publication was the literary journal'' Timothy McSwee ...
''.


Translations

Azoulay also works as a Hebrew to English translator, translating non-fiction, children's literature, and plays, including works by playwright Hanoch Levin.Job and Jesus Combine to Overcome
- ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' review of 2006 production of Hanoch Levin's ''
Job's Passion ''Job's Passion'' (, Ysurei 'Yov) is a play by Israeli playwright Hanoch Levin, based on the biblical story of Job, combined with elements of Christ's Passion. The play was first staged in April 1981 at The Cameri Theater in Israel, under the d ...
'' translated by Azoulay


References


External links


Shay K. Azoulay
- official website.
Shay Azoulay
on the Israeli Dramatists Website.
Shay Azoulay
on ''The Short Story Project''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Azoulay, Shay K. 1979 births Living people Jewish Israeli writers Israeli novelists Israeli male dramatists and playwrights Translators from Hebrew Literary forgeries City College of New York alumni