Assaf Gavron (; born 21 December 1968) is an Israeli writer, novelist, translator, and musician. Formerly a journalist and hi-tech worker, his books have been translated to several languages and won awards such as the Bernstein Prize for The Hilltop (2013), Prix Courrier International (France) for Croc Attack (2012), "Ein Buch für die Stadt" (Cologne, Germany) for the same novel (2012), and the Israeli Prime Minister Award for authors (2011).
Early life and career
Gavron was born in the town of Arad in 1968 and grew up in Motza Illit near Jerusalem. He earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Media and Communication in Goldsmiths' College in London (1991âÂÂ1994) and New Media in Vancouver (1997). In the 1990s, he worked as a journalist for several Israeli newspapers. Between 2000 and 2004, he was a creative director for Israeli high-tech company Valis. He has been teaching creative writing in Israel (Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem, and Sapir Academic College in Sderot) and the United States (University of Nebraska Omaha and San Diego State University). Gavron has worked creating video games and as a rock musician; he has also translated American novels into Hebrew.
Other activities
Apart from his original works, Gavron is a literary translator from English to Hebrew. Among the more than twenty books he translated are J. D. Salinger's Nine Stories, Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint, Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything is Illuminated, J. K. Rowling's The Casual Vacancy, and Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife. Gavron is the singer and songwriter with Israeli cult pop band The Mouth and Foot (ÃÂäàÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂäÃÂÃÂÃÂ), which has released five albums between 1989 and 2013. He is the founder and captain of the Israeli Writers Football national team. He was the chief writer of video game Peacemaker.
Personal life
Gavron lives in Tel Aviv. He is divorced and has two daughters.
Awards and accolades
Works
- Ice (ÃÂÃÂÃÂá): novel, Tel Aviv: Gvanim, 1997.
- Sex in the Cemetery (ÃÂÃÂàÃÂÃÂÃÂê ÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ): story collection, Tel Aviv: Zmora-Bitan, 2000.
- Moving (ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ ÃÂ): novel, Or Yehuda: Zmora-Bitan Publishing, 2003. (German: Alles Paletti, Luchterhand Literaturverlag, 2010)
- CrocAttack (êàÃÂàäÃÂÃÂÃÂâ): novel, Or Yehuda: Kinneret Zmora-Bitan, 2006. (German: Ein schönes Attentat, Luchterhand Verlag, 2008; Dutch: Krokodil van de aanslagen, Ailantus, 2009; Italian: La mia storia, la tua storia, Mondadori, 2009; French: Croc Attack, Rivages, 2010; English (UK): CrocAttack, 4th Estate, 2010; English (US): Almost Dead, HarperCollins, 2010; English (Canada): Almost Dead, Harper Canada, 2010; Greek: Croc Attack, Bartzolulianos, 2013; Bulgarian: Almost Dead, Enthusiast, 2014)
- Hydromania (ÃÂÃÂÃÂèÃÂÃÂàÃÂÃÂ): novel, Or Yehuda: Kinneret Zmora-Bitan, 2008. (German: Hydromania, Luchterhand Verlag, 2009; Dutch: Hydromania, Ailantus, 2010; Italian: Idromania, La Giuntina, 2013)
- Eating Standing Up (ÃÂÃÂÃÂàÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ): collection of journalism, Jerusalem: Uganda, 2009.
- The Hilltop (ÃÂÃÂÃÂâÃÂ): novel, Tel Aviv: Books in the Attic (Sifrey Aliyat Hagag), 2013. (German: Auf fremdem Land, Luchterhand Verlag, 2013; Dutch: De Nederzetting, Nieuw Amsterdam, 2014; French: Les Innocents, Rivages, 2014; Italian: La Colina, La Giuntina, 2014; English (US): The Hilltop, Scribner, 2014; English (UK): The Hilltop, One World, 2014; Swedish: Uppe pÃÂ¥ höjden, Natur & Kultur, 2015; Czech: Osada na pahorku, Pistorius & OlÃ
¡anská, 2017).
- Eighteen Lashes (éÃÂÃÂàÃÂ-âéèàÃÂÃÂçÃÂê), Books in the Attic (Sifrey Aliyat Hagag), 2017. (German: Achtzehn Hiebe, Luchterhand Verlag, 2018; Italian: Le diciotto frustate, La Giuntina, 2019).
- The Cement (ÃÂ÷ÃÂöüÃÂöÃÂ), Pardes Publishing, 2023.
- Don't You Want Me (ÃÂÃÂàÃÂÃÂààèÃÂæàÃÂÃÂ), Books in the Attic (Sifrey Aliyat Hagag), 2025.
References
External links
CrocAttack / Almost Dead:
- David L. Ulin, Book review: 'Almost Dead' by Assaf Gavron, Los Angeles Times, May 16, 2010
- Jon Papernick, A balanced achievement, The Globe and Mail, June 29, 2010
- James Smart, Croc Attack!, by Assaf Gavron â review, The Guardian, February 5, 2011
The Hilltop:
- Anshel Pfeffer, Documenting a warped and psychotic society in Israel's Wild West, Haaretz, August 12, 2013
- Jessica Steinberg, A writerâÂÂs life in translation, The Times of Israel, January 30, 2014
- Dan Friedman, Of Frum Hippies, West Bank Settlements and Leo Tolstoy, The Forward, December 3, 2014
- Ian Sansom, The Hilltop by Assaf Gavron review â âÂÂan extraordinary view of contemporary Israeli societyâÂÂ, The Guardian, 19 December 2014
- Mark Katkov, The Hilltop: A Novel, NPR's Book Concierge 2014