David Grossman
Biography
An author of fiction, nonfiction, young adult, andchildren’s literature, David Grossman has long been acclaimed for his aptrepresentation of contemporary life in Israel. Grossman himself was born inJerusalem, the child of Holocaust survivors. This dual existence, of hope onone hand and despair on the other, figures prominently in many of his novels.
Someoneto Run With (2000) for example, follows Tamar and Assaf, children growingup in Jerusalem in a hidden world of drugs and crime. The streets and alleywaysthat make up the Holy City as we all know it are vividly portrayed, howevercast in a completely different and bewildering light. Assaf and Tamar areextraordinary in their frank ordinariness, finding love and resolution in themost unlikely of places.His novelsgenerally play on themes of youth and coming of age, against the backdrop ofIsraeli politics and current events.
David Grossman was born in 1954 in Jerusalem andstudied drama and philosophy at Hebrew University. He began his career on TVand radio with various programs designed for children. Since 1980 Grossman haspublished numerous essays, novels, and short stories, all of which have beentranslated into a number of languages and published around the world. Knownalso for his liberal political views, he spoke out formally with other authorsagainst the war in Lebanon in 2006. Tragically, just a few days later his sonUri was killed by a Hezbollah missile, an event that shaped his latest novel Untilthe End of the Land (2008).
Bibliography
Awards
- 2008, Geschwister-Scholl-Preis, Germany
- 2008, Honorary Doctorate by Florence University, Italy
- 2007, awarded degree of Doctor Honoris Causa by Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
- 2007, Emet Prize, Israel2007, Onorificenza della Stella Solidarita Italiana, Italy
- 2007, Premio Ischia (International Award for Journalism), Italy
- 2006, Koret Jewish Book Award, USA
- 2006, Premio por la Pace a l’Azione Umanitaria, Italy
- 2004, Bialik Prize for Literature, Israel
- 2004, Premio Flaiano, Italy
- 2001, Buxtehude Bulle, Germany
- 2001, Sapir Prize for Someone to Run With
- 1998, Vittorio de Sica Prize, Italy
- 1998, Juliet Club Prize
- 1998, Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation, UK
- 1998, Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Belles Lettres, France
- 1997, Premio Grinzane Cavour for The Zigzag Kid, Italy
- 1996, Premio Mondello for The Zigzag Kid, Italy
- 1991, Valumbrosa Prize, Italy
- 1991, Eliette von Karajan Price, Austria
- 1991, Nelly Sachs Prize
- 1984, Prime Minster’s Prize for Creative Work, Israel
Artist Recommends
“He writes of marriage and desire,jealousy and motherhood, loyalty and betrayal, and all the while he is mappingan entire country's anxieties and longings. Rather than explicitly report thefacts on the ground, Grossman constructs his own alternate reality, and theresults are more startling, more immediate, more richly true in this''situation'' -- in any situation.”
-Mirvis, Tova