Nava Semel
Nava Semel, born Nava Artzi on September 15, 1954, in an immigrant transit camp in Israel, was a prominent Israeli author and playwright whose literary work often explored the themes of identity and the Holocaust. As the daughter of a concentration camp survivor and a member of the Zionist youth underground, her life experiences deeply influenced her writing. She graduated from Tel Aviv University with degrees in art history and published a variety of works, including poetry, novels, plays, and essays for both adults and children, primarily in Hebrew.
Semel's first book, a poetry collection titled "Shirei herayon veleida," was published in 1982, and she gained significant recognition with her short story collection "Kov'a zekukhit," which addressed the challenges faced by children of Holocaust survivors. Her novels often feature intergenerational narratives, such as "Tzchok shel 'achbarosh," which delves into the memories of hidden children during the Holocaust. Semel was also known for her impactful children's literature, winning the American National Jewish Book Award for her juvenile novel "Becoming Gershona."
Her play "Hayeled me'akhorei ha'einayim," which centers on a boy with Down syndrome, enjoyed a long run in Israel and was adapted for radio by the BBC. Semel received numerous accolades for her contributions to literature, including the Israeli Prime Minister's Prize in 1996. She passed away in 2017, leaving behind a significant legacy that continues to resonate in Holocaust literature and beyond.
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Subject Terms
Nava Semel
- Born: September 15, 1954
- Birthplace: Tel Aviv, Israel
- Died: December 2, 2017
- Place of death: Tel Aviv, Israel
Biography
Nava Semel was born Nava Artzi in an immigrant transit camp in Israel on September 15, 1954. Her mother was a concentration camp survivor and her father was a member of the Zionist youth underground. Semel grew up in Tel Aviv and graduated from Tel Aviv University with degrees in art history after completing her military service. She married Noam Semel in 1976.
Her identity as an Israeli and her voice as a member of the “second generation,” or children of Holocaust survivors, form the underlying theme of much of her literary work. She published poetry, stage plays, teleplays, and essays in addition to short stories and novels for adults and children. Semel wrote in Hebrew, and her works have been translated into eight languages.
Her first published book, Shirei herayon veleida (1982), was a collection of poems about maternity and birth written after the birth of her first son. In 1990, Semel gave birth to twins while living in New York, where her husband served for four years as Israeli consul for cultural affairs.
In 1985, Semel published a collection of short stories, Kov’a zekukhit: Kovets sipurin shel hador hasheni; the English translation of the book’s subtitle is “stories of the second generation.” Here she began to explore the difficulties experienced by the children of Holocaust survivors, children who bear the psychological burden of replacing those who died. This collection won the Massuah Institute for Holocaust Studies Award in 1988.
Semel’s first two novels, Rally masah masah matarah (1993) and Isha ’al haneyar (1996), are set in Israel and also deal with Holocaust themes. The experimental novel Tzchok shel ’achbarosh (2001) confronts the Holocaust as well. Using a variety of forms and time frames, the novel is an intergenerational story that explores the attempt to recall the lost memories of a “hidden child,” one of those who escaped the Nazis by living in hiding.
Her first juvenile novel, Gershona shona (1988; Becoming Gershona, 1990), is set in Tel Aviv in 1958. The narrator is a young girl much like Semel herself, who comes of age while uncovering the secrets and stories of her parents’ and grandparents’ past. The novel won the American National Jewish Book Award for Children’s Literature. Her second juvenile novel, Moris haviv’el melamed la’uf (1990 ; Flying Lessons, 1995), also features a female narrator who is surrounded by Holocaust survivors. More books for children followed: Mi ganav et hakhatsagah? (1997); two volumes of lullabies, published in 1998 and 2002; and Ha-ometz lefached (2004), a volume of poetry.
Semel’s play Hayeled me’akhorei ha’einayim is about a boy with Down syndrome. The play ran on the Israeli stage for more than ten years, and in 1988, an English-language radio adaptation, The Child Behind the Eyes, was aired by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The play also was produced in Europe and the United States.
Writing in a variety of genres for children and adults, Semel’s intergenerational perspective connecting the experiences of Israelis with Holocaust survivors assures her a significant position among Holocaust writers. She won several awards and literary prizes for her work, including the Israeli Prime Minister’s Prize in 1996. She was a member of the Massuah Institute of Holocaust Studies.
Semel died in 2017 of cancer at the age of sixty-three, survived by her husband and three children.
Bibliography
"Biography." Nava Semel, www.navasemel.com/en/biography. Accessed 17 Apr. 2018.
Cashman, Greer Fay. "Multi-talented Nava Semel Succumbs to Cancer at Age 63." The Jerusalem Post, 2 Dec. 2017, www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Multi-talented-Nava-Semel-Succumbs-to-cancer-at-age-63-515814. Accessed 17 Apr. 2018.
Lentin, Ronit. "Writing Is the Closing of Circles." Israel and the Daughters of the Shoah: Reoccupying the Territories of Silence, Berghahn Books, 2000, www.ronitlentin.net/2017/12/02/writing-is-the-closing-of-circles-nava-semel/. Accessed 17 Apr. 2018.
"Nava Semel." Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature, 2012, www.ithl.org.il/page‗13244. Accessed 17 Apr. 2018.
Senel, Nava. "Nava Semel Talking about the Jewish Tragedy and the Act of Remembering." Interview by Cristina Foarfă. Bookaholic, 23 Mar. 2015, www.bookaholic.ro/interview-nava-semel-talking-about-the-jewish-tragedy-and-the-act-of-remembering.html. Accessed 17 Apr. 2018.