Acclaimed Israeli author David Grossman will receive the Israel Prize for literature for 2018, Education Minister Naftali Bennett announced on Monday.
"Grossman has been one of the most moving and influential voices in Israeli literature. Through his human sensitivity, deep insights and unique language, he became internationally recognized. We are privileged to have him as a nation," Bennett wrote on Twitter shortly after he disclosed the decision, which was made by a committee in his ministry. "We have someone we can run with," Bennett added, referring to one of his famous books "Someone to run with."
Grossman is a best-selling Israeli writer of fiction, nonfiction and children's literature, whose works have been translated into 36 languages. He has been the recipient of numerous global awards, including the French Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the Buxtehuder Bulle in Germany, Rome's Premio per la Pace e l'Azione Umanitaria, the Frankfurt Peace Prize and Israel's EMET Prize for Art, Science and Culture.
Grossman lost his son, Uri, during the Second Lebanon War. He has been a critic of the Right for its policies vis-à-vis the Palestinians.
In 2017 Grossman, 64, became the first Israeli author to receive the distinguished Man Booker International Prize for his novel "A Horse Walks into a Bar."
Grossman's novel was selected from 126 books by a panel of five award-winning authors, chaired by Nick Barley, the Edinburgh International Book Festival director.
