Michal Govrin

Michal is a graduate of Tel Aviv University and has a doctorate in contemporary sacred theater from the University of Paris.

She has published twelve books—poetry, novels, and essays—that have garnered many prizes in Israel and abroad. Her works include the novel The Name (Hebrew: Hashem) (Kugel Prize and Koret Prize for Jewish books); Snapshots (Hebrew: Hevzekim) (ACUM Prize for literary achievement); the prose poetry volume The Making of the Sea, a Chronicle of Exegesis (Hebrew: Ma’aseh Hayam; Chronikat Perush), which is laid out as a page of Gemara; the novel The Shores of Ashkelon (Hebrew: Ahava al hakhof); the book Body of Prayer (Hebrew: Guf Tefila), co-authored with Jacques Derrida; and most recently The Passion of Jerusalem (Hebrew: Yerushalayim, Mekom HaTaavah).

Michal has directed plays in all the large theaters in Israel. She won the Margalit Prize for her translation and staging of Emigranci (Hamehagrim in Hebrew), by the Polish writer Sławomir Mrożek. In 2010, Govrin was chosen by the French Salon du Livre as one of thirty authors that have left a mark on world literature. In 2013 she was awarded the title of chevalier by the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Michal teaches at Tel Aviv University