Anton Shammas
Encyclopedia
Biography
Anton Shammas was one of six children born to Hanna Shammas, a Palestinian ChristianPalestinian Christian
Palestinian Christians are Arabic-speaking Christians descended from the people of the geographical area of Palestine. Within Palestine, there are churches and believers from many Christian denominations, including Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholic , Protestant, and others...
barber and shoemaker,
and a Lebanese mother who moved to Fassuta
Fassuta
Fassuta is a Israeli Arab town on the northwestern slopes of Mount Meron in the Northern District of Israel, south of the Lebanese border.In 2005, the population of Fassuta was 2,900.-History:...
in 1936 to teach French at the local girls' school. In 1962, the family moved to Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
where Shammas studied in an integrated Jewish-Arab school.In 1968, Shammas moved to Jerusalem and studied English literature and art history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
.
Shammas now lives in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where he is a professor of Middle Eastern literature at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
.
Literary career
Shammas was one of the founders of the Arabic magazine "The East" (Arabic: الشرق), which he edited from 1971 to 1976. His first poem was published in the literary supplement of HaaretzHaaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
newspaper. In 1974, Shammas published his first anthology of poetry in Arabic, "Imprisoned in my Own Awakening and Sleep" (Arabic: اسير يقظتي ومنامي ), as well as an anthology of Hebrew poems, "Hardcover" (Hebrew: כריכה קשה).
In 1975, Shammas began to work for Israel Television
Israel Broadcasting Authority
Israel Broadcasting Authority is Israel's state broadcasting network.It grew out of the radio station Kol Yisrael, which made its first broadcast as an independent station on . The name of the organisation operating Kol Yisrael was changed to Israel Broadcasting Service in 1951...
, producing Arabic language programs. He also wrote for the Hebrew newspapers. Some of his articles explored the problem of Arab identity in a Jewish state. In 1979, he published his anthology "No Man's Land" (Hebrew: שטח הפקר).
Shammas is known mainly for his writing in Hebrew and Hebrew translations of Arab literature, such as the work of Emile Habibi
Emile Habibi
Imil Shukri Habibi was an Israeli-Palestinian writer of Arabic expression and a communist politician, son of a Christian family.In 2005, he was voted the 143rd-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest...
. His acclaimed Hebrew novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
Arabesques (1986) was translated into several languages, including English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, although it has never appeared in Arabic. Shammas has also translated Arabic poetry into English.
Prose
- Arabesques, a novel in Hebrew (Arabeskot) (1986)
- The Biggest Liar in the World, a children's book in Hebrew (1982)
Poetry
- Imprisoned in My Own Awakening and Sleep, poems in Arabic (1974)
- Hardcover, poems in Hebrew (1974)
- No Man's Land, poems in Hebrew (1979)
Plays
- Ghassil Wijjak ya Qamar (Wash your Face, Moon) (Arabic), for The Arab Theater, Haifa (1997)
- Stuffed Ducks, a play in progress (Hebrew and English), for River Arts, Woodstock (1989)
- Ta'ah bil-hayt (A Hole in the Wall), a bilingual play for young adults (Arabic and Hebrew), Haifa Theater (1978–79)
Short stories
- Arabesque, Harper's Magazine, March 1988
- The Retreat From Galilee, Granta 23 (London), Spring 1988
Translations
Hebrew into Arabic- Miriam Yalan-ShteklisMiriam Yalan-ShteklisMiriam Yalan-Shteklis was an Israeli writer and poet famous for her children's books. Her surname, Yalan, was an acronym based on her father’s name, Yehuda Leib Nissan.-Biography:...
, Selected Poems and Stories (for children)(1972) - Ka-Tzetnik, Star Eternal, (1975)
- David Rokeah, Selected Poems (1977)
- David AvidanDavid AvidanDavid Avidan was an Israeli "poet, painter, filmmaker, publicist, and playwright" . He wrote 20 published books of Hebrew poetry.-Biography and literary career:...
, Selected Poems(1982) - The Doe Hunt, Hebrew short stories (1984)
Arabic into Hebrew
- Emile HabibiEmile HabibiImil Shukri Habibi was an Israeli-Palestinian writer of Arabic expression and a communist politician, son of a Christian family.In 2005, he was voted the 143rd-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest...
, Al-Waka'i al gharieba fi ikhtifa Sa'ied Aboe an-Nash al-Moetasaja'il (The Secret Life of Saeed the Pessoptimist) (1984). - Emile HabibiEmile HabibiImil Shukri Habibi was an Israeli-Palestinian writer of Arabic expression and a communist politician, son of a Christian family.In 2005, he was voted the 143rd-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest...
, Ekhtayyeh (1988). - Emile HabibiEmile HabibiImil Shukri Habibi was an Israeli-Palestinian writer of Arabic expression and a communist politician, son of a Christian family.In 2005, he was voted the 143rd-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest...
, Khurafeyyet Sarayet Bint el-Ghoul (Saraya, the Ogre's Daughter)(1993). - Taha Muhammad AliTaha Muhammad AliTaha Muhammad Ali was a Palestinian poet.-Biography:Taha Muhammad Ali fled to Lebanon with his family when he was seventeen after their village came under heavy bombardment during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The following year, he returned to Nazareth, where he lived till his death...
, poems (2006).
Arabic into English
- Three poems by Hilmy Salem (Banipal, No. 7, Spring 2000)
- Three poems by Salman MasalhaSalman MasalhaSalman Masalha is a poet, writer, essayist and translator. He is Druze citizen of Israel. Masalha is a bilingual writer who writes in Arabic and Hebrew, and publishes in both languages...
(Banipal, No. 7, Spring 2000) - Two poems by Mahmoud DarwishMahmoud DarwishMahmoud Darwish was a Palestinian poet and author who won numerous awards for his literary output and was regarded as the Palestinian national poet...
(Banipal, No. 4, Spring 1999) - Three poems by Taha Muhammad AliTaha Muhammad AliTaha Muhammad Ali was a Palestinian poet.-Biography:Taha Muhammad Ali fled to Lebanon with his family when he was seventeen after their village came under heavy bombardment during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The following year, he returned to Nazareth, where he lived till his death...
(Banipal, No. 2, Summer 1998)
English into Arabic and Hebrew
- Dario FoDario FoDario Fo is an Italian satirist, playwright, theater director, actor and composer. His dramatic work employs comedic methods of the ancient Italian commedia dell'arte, a theatrical style popular with the working classes. He currently owns and operates a theatre company with his wife, actress...
, The Accidental Death of an Anarchist, an adaptation for "The Arab Theater," Haifa (1996) - Samuel BeckettSamuel BeckettSamuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
, Waiting for Godot, a bilingual translation into Arabic and Hebrew for "Haifa Theater," Haifa (1984, 1994) - Harold PinterHarold PinterHarold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
, The Dumb Waiter and Victoria Station, (1986) - Edward AlbeeEdward AlbeeEdward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...
, The Zoo Story, for Beit Hagefen Theater, Haifa (1987) (Arabic) - Athol FugardAthol FugardAthol Fugard is a South African playwright, novelist, actor, and director who writes in English, best known for his political plays opposing the South African system of apartheid and for the 2005 Academy-Award winning film of his novel Tsotsi, directed by Gavin Hood...
, The Island, for Haifa Theater, (1983)
Editing
- Bab al-Shams, Elias KhouryElias Khoury (writer)Elias Khoury is a Lebanese novelist, playwright, critic and a prominent public intellectual. He has published ten novels, which have been translated into several foreign languages, as well as several works of literary criticism. He has also written three plays...
, Hebrew translation published by Andalus, Tel-Aviv