Almog Behar (b. 1978)

Almog Behar was born in Netanya and lives in Jerusalem. He is a scholar, poet, and writer in other genres. More at Poetry International and Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature

Here is the poet reading in Hebrew and then Arabic the poem “My Arabic is Mute.” Click through to YouTube to see the full text in an English translation and/or compare different translations in the PDF linked below.

Take This Poem and Copy It

This work is described as a “new draft version of collected translations of my poems and stories and some other texts, under the title: ‘Take This Poem And Copy It,’ in a bilingual edition, Hebrew and English.” Behar notes that it’s still a draft and that all are “welcomed to download, read, share and comment.” (He also mentions hoping part will be ready for publication in a year [from 2017]; not clear if that has materialized yet.)

One interesting aspect of this publication is that Behar’s Hebrew poems are followed by more than one English translation, beginning with the eponymous poem in two translations. The PDF also offers a selection of English verse translated into Hebrew by Behar as well as essays, stories, and interviews. Here’s the link to download the full book, free of charge: Take This Poem And Copy It

Here is a brief introduction to the work, including English readings, from 2017 when it was released — from Marcela Sulak’s podcast.

His Academia page shares papers, prose, and poetry in several languages, including an Academia link to the draft described above.