Book Launch , 6.6.21

‘There is something a little misguided when you pass on your life story to paper. You are building a world that is a bit distorted from the real world ... As I see it, the stories I wrote were my response to a need , a living need , that did not let go of me until it was written.’

Amalia Kahana-Carmon, March 29, 2011

The Second-Floor biographical essay presents for the first time the connection between the life history of writer Amalia Kahana-Carmon and her literary works. The details of this major writer’s personal life in Hebrew literature are revealed as fundamental raw material in her stories.
The book traces the history of the first half of her life and work, from her childhood in Kibbutz Ein Harod, through her adolescent days in Tel Aviv under the shadow of the British Mandate and her studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, to the period of service in the Negev Brigade during the War of Independence, to her life in Europe, her love life and family life. Her 'reading journal' is described, as well as the family and social networks she belonged to during her attempts to become a writer. This description paves the way for her appearance on the stage of Hebrew literature upon the publication of her book Under One Roof.
Her life story presented here was written while she was still alive, and directed the researcher to her sealed personal archive, deposited in the National Library of Jerusalem in the Personal Archives Department. This intimate archive is a kind of gateway to the inner world of this very private writer.
The book appears as we commemorate the one year anniversary of Kahana-Carmon’s passing in January 2019.

Dr. Noga Rosenfarb is a lecturer, educator and researcher in Hebrew literature. She teaches and develops gifted curricula, and leads a creative writing educational project. Editor-in-chief of the Plus Communications group and a member of the Tel Aviv University and Herzl Institute for History Researchers and Zionism.