Mati Shemoelof · Lyrikline.org

* 11.07.1972, Haifa, Israel
lebt in: Berlin, Deutschland

(English and then German)

I am an award winning writer, poet, activist, author, and editor that was born and raised in Haifa, Israel. I am currently based in Berlin, Germany. I’ve already published ten books both in Israel and Germany. My writing is diverse. It includes fiction, poetry, plays, articles for magazines and newspapers, texts for art exhibitions, short stories, and more.

My personal and artistic mission is to shine a light on injustice and discrimination and disrupt the status quo by using syncretism in my writing and the events I produce. I look to the past and to the future in order to find fresh new solutions for the present and work to bridge existing cultural divides. Syncretic art involves the merging of several originally discrete traditions thus asserting an underlying unity and allowing for an inclusive approach to other cultures. I believe in the power of words and their ability to bring about lasting change and I hope that mine make a difference in some way.

My works have been translated to several languages, including a recent bi-lingual [German-Hebrew] collection of poems (2019): “Baghdad - Haifa - Berlin: 40 ausgewählte Gedichte - Hebräisch-deutsche Ausgabe, mit einem Gedicht in arabischer Übersetzung”. My first book of articles “An eruption from the east: Re visiting the emergence of the Mizrahi artistic explosion and it's imprint on the Israeli cultural narrative 2006-2019“ was published by “Iton 77” publishers in Israel. On 2020 i published my second Kleine Texte: “Bleiben oder widerstehen: Wem gehört die deutsche Kultur und andere Texte und Gedichte” (Aphorisma Verlag). On 2021 i published my first novel “The Prize” with Pardes Publishing House. On 2023 my second book was published in Germany: "Das kleine Boot in meiner Hand nenn ich Narbe: Gedichte” (Parasitenpresse, 2023). ISBN: 978-3-98805-012-0.

After moving to Berlin I founded “Poetic Hafla” a group that has created literary, music & art performance events featuring a diverse collection of artists from all over the world. I am now working on a new literary project “Anu אנו نحن: Jews and Arabs writing in Berlin”. The aim of this literary group is to promote a cultural dialogue between writers and artists from the Middle East, Asia, and North Africa. The members of “Anu אנו نحن” show how Jews and Arabs can work side by side, and how barriers and walls can be crossed through works of art and open dialogue. This project opens a dialogue within the German society regarding notions and historical narratives of the “Other” and the “Guest”, as well as allows us to learn more about the Arab-Jews narrative. It also promotes, in addition, a feminist and queer approach, and is committed to diversity of representation in their events.

In Israel, i co-founded a “Cultural Guerrilla” movement of artists, poets, and activists that politized the poetry discourse (2007-2012). The movement was the cultural front of the 2011 protest. I also assisted in publishing the first two anthologies of “Ars Poetica” – a poetic Mizrahi series of events that were created by the poet Adi Keissar.

I edited the Mizrahi journal “Hacivon Mizrah” (2006-2008). Also co-edited the first anthology of the third Mizrahi generation in Israel: “Echoing Identities: Young Mizrahi Anthology (2007). I was the artistic editor of “Diversifying the Ivory Tower: First Generation Students Writing” (2022). I was part of different Mizrahi movements: “The Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow”, “Ruh Jadida”, “A Mizrahi appeal against Israel’s Nation State Law” and more.

© Graham Hains for Stadtsprachen Magazine, 2020

“I create words. I publish them. These words create change and bring me hope. They resist the borders of our national identities and look to the past and to the future in order to find new fresh solutions for the present. ”

Ich, Mati Shemoelof, bin ein arabisch-jüdischer Autor aus Haifa in Israel und lebe seit einigen Jahren in Berlin. Hier bin ich verheiratet und Vater geworden. In Israel habe ich insgesamt 10 Bücher veröffentlicht, die meisten davon Gedichtbände, aber auch eine Kurzgeschichtensammlung und ein Essayband und ein Roman. Meine erste Veröffentlichung in Deutschland war eine Sammlung meiner Gedichte “Bagdad | Haifa | Berlin” (2019. AphorismA Verlag). 2023 erschien der zweite Band meiner Gedichte in Deutschland "Das kleine Boot in meiner Hand nenn ich Narbe: Gedichte” (Parasitenpresse, 2023). ISBN: 978-3-98805-012-0.

Ich habe auch ein Hörspiel geschrieben: „Das künftige Ufer“ WDR (2018). In Berlin habe ich zwei literarische Gruppen mitbegründet: “Poetic Hafla” – eine multi-linguale künstlerische Party, die den Immigranten Kulturen in Berlin eine Stimme gibt mit mehr als 20 Veranstaltungen. Meine erster Roman "Der Preis" ist 2021 auf Hebräisch erschienen. Im selben Jahr richtete ich mit meiner Gruppe “Anu: Jews and Arabs Writing in Berlin” das viertägige Literaturprojekt "The Festival of the Middle East Union" aus.

Mati Shemoelof (מתי שמואלוף)
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Gedichte

Mati Shemoelof מתי שמואלוף
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