A Sea of Voices: Women Poets in Israel (review)

Nowhere can we see better the diversity of our Jewish community then by looking in this stunning collection of fifty-one, twenty-first century poets living in Israel. The complexity of languages and cultures is pronounced here by poets who live in Israel, but originate from places such as Spain and Iraq and who write in Hebrew as well as in Arabic, Russian, Spanish, Yiddish, Ladino, Polish and German. The work is divided into "linguistic sections," such as Figs and Jasmine (Spanish/Ladino), A People of Olives (Arabic), or Blue Sky (Russian/German/Finnish), with the most prominent section being A Dress of Fire (Hebrew). Multiple poems by each poet provide the reader with more than a "taste" for each, and the ability to find commonality and distinctiveness between culture, language and individual poets. The women bring a long Jewish poetic tradition to their work, but their work is also particularly Israeli—decidedly reflective of the turbulent intricate history of contemporary Israeli society. Poetry not to be missed.