Keshev Leshira

Keshev Leshira (Hebrew: קשב לשירה, meaning 'Attention to Poetry') is an Israeli publishing house founded in 1997 in Tel Aviv by poet and translator Rafi Weichert in partnership with poets Moshe Dor and Giora Leshem. It is a small non-profit press that has acquired the reputation of being the most prestigious venue for poetry, both original and translated, published in Israel. The press initially focused on translations of world poetry, introducing to Hebrew readers for the first time works by poets such as Ivan Lalic, Tomas Tranströmer, Tadeusz Różewicz, and Elizabeth Bishop, as well as French poets (Guillaume Apollinaire, Arthur Rimbaud) translated by Moshe Ben-Shaul, Spanish poetry translated by Tal Nitzan, Swedish poetry by Galit Hasan-Rokem, and Polish poetry by Rafi Weichert and David Weinfeld, including translations of Nobel laureate Wisława Szymborska. Over time, Keshev Leshira also published prominent Israeli poets such as Tuvia Rübner, Aryeh Sivan, Rachel Chalfi, Shlomo Avayou, Uri Bernstein, Zvika Sternfeld, Kobi Nissim, Anat Sharon-Blais, and Keren Koch. The editorial board expanded to include Israel Har, Yaakov Hollander, Oded Peled, and Ronen Sonis. The press organizes poetry reading events in Tel Aviv and beyond. Among its notable publications are Olav H. Hauge's 'The River Beyond the Fjord' (2004), 'Voices from the Other Sea: Contemporary Arab Women's Poetry' (2008), Forough Farrokhzad's 'Another Birth' (2012), Marwan Makhoul's 'The Sad Passionflower Land' (2012), 'Mahmoud Darwish: Fifty Years of Poetry' (2015), 'The Cross and the Rose' (2016), Fadhil Al-Azzawi's 'At the End of All Journeys' (2016), and 'June Fragments' (2021). The press publishes Nobel Prize winners such as T.S. Eliot, Octavio Paz, Wisława Szymborska, and W.B. Yeats, as well as distinguished American poets including James Wright, William Matthews, Rita Dove, Robert Hass, Charles Simic, William Carlos Williams, Elizabeth Bishop, Adrienne Rich, and Carl Sandburg. Its catalogue also features William Blake, Goethe, Pablo Neruda, Robert Frost, E.E. Cummings, Dylan Thomas, and many others. Keshev Leshira remains a vital force in Israeli literary culture, dedicated to bringing the world's poetry to Hebrew readers and promoting Israeli poetry.

Keshev Leshira was founded in 1997 in Tel Aviv by poet and translator Rafi Weichert in partnership with poets Moshe Dor and Giora Leshem. The publishing house initially focused on translations of world poetry, including first Hebrew translations of poets such as Ivan Lalic, Tomas Tranströmer, Tadeusz Różewicz, and Elizabeth Bishop, as well as French poets (Guillaume Apollinaire, Arthur Rimbaud) translated by Moshe Ben-Shaul, Spanish poetry translated by Tal Nitzan, Swedish poetry by Galit Hasan-Rokem, and Polish poetry by Rafi Weichert and David Weinfeld, including translations of Nobel laureate Wisława Szymborska. David Weinfeld also briefly served as an editor at the press. Over time, Keshev Leshira published works by prominent Israeli poets such as Tuvia Rübner, Aryeh Sivan, Rachel Chalfi, Shlomo Avayou, Uri Bernstein, Zvika Sternfeld, Kobi Nissim, Anat Sharon-Blais, and Keren Koch. The editorial board expanded to include Israel Har, Yaakov Hollander, Oded Peled, and Ronen Sonis. The press organizes poetry reading events in Tel Aviv and beyond. Notable publications include Olav H. Hauge's 'The River Beyond the Fjord' (2004), 'Voices from the Other Sea: Contemporary Arab Women's Poetry' (2008), Forough Farrokhzad's 'Another Birth' (2012), Marwan Makhoul's 'The Sad Passionflower Land' (2012), 'Mahmoud Darwish: Fifty Years of Poetry' (2015), 'The Cross and the Rose' (2016), Fadhil Al-Azzawi's 'At the End of All Journeys' (2016), and 'June Fragments' (2021). The press has published Nobel Prize winners such as T.S. Eliot, Octavio Paz, Wisława Szymborska, and W.B. Yeats, as well as distinguished American poets including James Wright, William Matthews, Rita Dove, Robert Hass, Charles Simic, William Carlos Williams, Elizabeth Bishop, Adrienne Rich, and Carl Sandburg. Its catalogue also features William Blake, Goethe, Pablo Neruda, Robert Frost, E.E. Cummings, Dylan Thomas, and many others. Keshev Leshira remains a vital force in Israeli literary culture, dedicated to bringing the world's poetry to Hebrew readers and promoting Israeli poetry.

• 2021

  Published 'June Fragments'.

• 2016

  Published 'The Cross and the Rose' and Fadhil Al-Azzawi's 'At the End of All Journeys'.

• 2015

  Published 'Mahmoud Darwish: Fifty Years of Poetry'.

• 2012

  Published Forough Farrokhzad's 'Another Birth' and Marwan Makhoul's 'The Sad Passionflower Land'.

• 2008

  Published 'Voices from the Other Sea: Contemporary Arab Women's Poetry'.

• 2004

  Published Olav H. Hauge's 'The River Beyond the Fjord'.

• 1997

  Founded in Tel Aviv by Rafi Weichert, Moshe Dor, and Giora Leshem.

Most prestigious venue for poetry in Israel, non-profit, high literary quality.

• 2004

  The River Beyond the Fjord

  Poetry by Olav H. Hauge, translated by Sabina Messeg and Hana May-Svendl.

• 2008

  Voices from the Other Sea: Contemporary Arab Women's Poetry

  Edited by Ami Elad-Bouskila.

• 2012

  Another Birth

  Poetry by Forough Farrokhzad, translated by Sivan Balslev.

• 2012

  The Sad Passionflower Land

  By Marwan Makhoul.

• 2015

  Mahmoud Darwish: Fifty Years of Poetry

  Edited and translated by Reuven Snir.

• 2016

  The Cross and the Rose

  Selection of medieval Latin poetry, translated by Aminadav Dykman.

• 2016

  At the End of All Journeys

  By Fadhil Al-Azzawi.

• 2021

  June Fragments

  Poems translated from Greek by Aminadav Dykman.

1. 1Official websitepoetry.org.il
2. 2About Uspoetry.org.il
3. 3Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Hebrew Wikipediahe.wikipedia.org