Author Michal Ben-Naftali was announced as the winner of the prestigious Sapir Prize for Literature for her novel "The Teacher" at a ceremony held Sunday evening at the Tel Aviv Port. Ben-Naftali was selected over four other contenders -- authors Yaniv Itzkovich, Maya Levy-Yaron and Shimon Zimmer, and poet Nano Shabtai. In addition to a cash prize of 150,000 shekels ($40,000), her book will be translated into a language of her choice. The other finalists received prizes of 40,000 shekels ($11,000) each. "The Teacher" deals with the life of Elsa Weiss, a respected English teacher in a Tel Aviv high school and Holocaust survivor. The novel is told from the point of view of one of Elsa's students, some 30 years after the teacher's enigmatic suicide. The Sapir Prize judges panel said they awarded the prize to Ben-Naftali because she had "penned a narrative of ethical significance bearing a singular voice that is both humble and brave and provides a new perspective on the very possibility of rebuilding one's identity after experiencing a terrible loss." Ben-Naftali was born in Tel Aviv in 1963. A writer, translator and editor, she studied history and philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and received a Ph.D. in contemporary French philosophy from Oxford University. She has published collections of essays, a novella, a memoir, and a novel, as well as numerous articles on literature, philosophy and art. Her body of work includes "Chronicle of Separation: On Deconstruction's Disillusioned Love," "The Visitation of Hannah Arendt," and "Spirit."
Author Michal Ben-Naftali wins coveted Sapir literature prize
Ben-Naftali to receive 150,000 shekels ($40,000) in cash, have her book "The Teacher" translated into a language of her choice • Sapir Prize judges praise book's "narrative of ethical significance bearing a singular voice that is both humble and brave."
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