World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Agi Mishol

アギ・ミショル

Agi Mishol

Pen Names: Agi Fried (birth name)（Birth name; later took married name Mishol.）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1947-10-20 （Cehu Silvaniei, Romania）
Nationality
Israeli
Languages
Hebrew, Hungarian (family)
Religion
Judaism
Residence History
Gedera (childhood) → Dimona (during military service) → Jerusalem (student and professional years) → Kfar Mordechai (residence; farming) → Tel Aviv (teaching and workshops)

Career

Occupations
poet, teacher, university lecturer, workshop leader
Active Years
1965-
Affiliations
Helicon School of Poetry (leader/instructor), Israel Institute for Advanced Studies (Artist in Residence), Hebrew University (board of trustees member)
Memberships
Hebrew University board of trustees
Influenced By
Yehuda Amichai, Wislawa Szymborska, Amos Oz (critical appreciation)

Education

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Literature (related studies)
Period: 1960年代（軍務中に学習を開始）
Country: Israel
Began studies during military service; exact graduation year unknown.
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew literature (BA, MA)
Degree: MA
Period: 1970年代（BA・MA取得）
Country: Israel
Attended a writing workshop given by Yehuda Amichai.

Awards

Coburg Rückert Prize
2025
Organization: City of Coburg / Rückert Prize organizers
Result: 受賞
Horst Bienek Prize for Poetry
2024
Category: 功労賞（業績全体）
Organization: Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts
Result: 受賞
Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award
2019
Organization: Zbigniew Herbert Award Committee
Result: 受賞
Newman Prize for Life Achievement in Literature
2018
Category: 生涯業績
Organization: Newman Prize organizers
Result: 受賞
Honorary doctorate (Bar-Ilan University)
2018
Category: 名誉博士
Organization: Bar-Ilan University
Result: 受与
Honorary doctorate (Tel Aviv University)
2014
Category: 名誉博士
Organization: Tel Aviv University
Result: 受与
Honorary doctorate (Weizmann Institute of Science)
2016
Category: 名誉博士
Organization: Weizmann Institute of Science
Result: 受与
Dolitsky Prize for Literature
2007
Organization: Dolitsky Prize organizers
Result: 受賞
Yehuda Amichai Prize
2002
Organization: Yehuda Amichai Prize organizers
Result: 受賞
Kugel Literary Award
2000
Organization: Kugel Award organizers
Result: 受賞
Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works
1995
Organization: Government of Israel
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Selected and New Poems

2003 Poetry

A selection of poems spanning different periods, combining everyday observation, nature, family history and wit.

naturememoryfamily (impact of the Holocaust)everyday life
Translations
  • English translation (Lisa Katz) included selection

Look There

1999 Poetry

A collection notable for shifting perspectives and keen observation; subtly addresses political and social themes.

observationpolitical perspectivenature

Awake

2013 Poetry

Work from her mature period, wrapping personal experience and universal feelings with humor and irony.

maturityselfeveryday miracles

Domestic Angel

2015 Poetry

A collection focusing on home and familiar scenes; poetically depicts the minutiae of life.

homeeveryday lifememory

Bibliography

  • Kodem Tafasti Rega (I Caught a Moment), 1967
  • Nanny Ve-Shneinu (Nanny and Both of Us), 1972
  • Srita Shel Hatul (A Cat's Scratch), 1978
  • Gallop, 1980
  • Yoman Mata (Plantation Notes), 1987
  • Fax Pigeon, 1991
  • The Interior Plain, 1995
  • See, 1997 (edited by Nathan Zach)
  • Look There, 1999
  • Dream Notebook, 2000
  • Wax Flower, 2002
  • Selected and New Poems, 2003
  • Things Happen, 2005
  • Moment, 2005
  • Working Order, 2011
  • Awake, 2013
  • Domestic Angel, 2015
  • Shirim. It's witches

Adaptations

  • Yanshufot (theatrical adaptation, 2004)
  • Various poems set to music by Israeli artists (Corinne Allal, Yehudit Ravitz, Ori Leshman, etc.)

Translations of Works

  • Look There (translated by Lisa Katz) - Graywolf Press, 2006
  • Less Like a Dove (translated by Joanna Chen) - Shearsman Books, 2016
  • Gedicht für den unvollkommenen Menschen (translated by Anne Birkenhauer) - Hanser, 2024
  • Selected poems translated into multiple languages (Polish, Italian, Slovenian, Romanian, etc.)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
conversational and clear dictionplayful wit and ironyuse of metaphor and close observation
Recurring Motifs
nature (plants & animals)memory and family historydomestic minutiaemixture of humor and sorrow

Legacy

One of Israel's leading contemporary poets. Her collections have been widely translated, her personal archive is held by the National Library of Israel, and she is celebrated for accessible language combined with deep observation.

Museums

  • National Library of Israel (Agi Mishol literary archive) Jerusalem Opened in 2017

Academic Societies

  • Hebrew University board of trustees
  • Israel Institute for Advanced Studies (Artist in Residence)

Archives

  • National Library of Israel (manuscripts, drafts, photographs, letters, diaries)

In Popular Culture

  • Poems set to music by Israeli singers and adapted for the stage.

Quotes

  • Mishol's poems know how to tell a tale, to sing a song and also dance — all at one and the same time. I love the splendid surprises in them, the subtle and exact sadness, and the mysterious manner by which she makes this sadness overflow with hidden joy.
    Source: Amos Oz (praise)
  • Agi Mishol's poems feel perfectly weighted. Her mix of honest empathy and care and elegant wit is deeply touching and enlivening.
    Source: Naomi Shihab Nye (comment) (2006)
  • Agi Mishol is a poet now standing at the height of her strength... she undoubtedly belongs to the great dynasty of female Hebrew poets.
    Source: Dan Miron (introduction) (2003)

Trivia

  • Grew up speaking mainly Hungarian at home.
  • Lives in Kfar Mordechai where the family farms peaches, persimmons and pomegranates.
  • Has two children (Maya and Uri) and keeps several cats and a dog.
  • Self-published first book at 18 and later recalled and destroyed remaining copies.