Assaf Gavron


Assaf Gavron is an Israeli writer, novelist, translator, and musician. Formerly a journalist and hi-tech worker, his books have been translated to several languages and won awards such as the Bernstein Prize for The Hilltop, Prix Courrier International for Croc Attack, "Ein Buch für die Stadt" for the same novel, and the Israeli Prime Minister Award for authors.

Early life and career

Gavron was born in the town of Arad in 1968 and grew up in Motza Illit near Jerusalem. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Media and Communication in Goldsmiths' College in London and New Media in Vancouver. In the 1990s, he worked as a journalist for several Israeli newspapers. Between 2000 and 2004, he was a creative director for Israeli high-tech company Valis. He has been teaching creative writing in Israel and the United States. Gavron has worked creating video games and as a rock musician; he has also translated American novels into Hebrew.

Other activities

Apart from his original works, Gavron is a literary translator from English to Hebrew. Among the more than twenty books he translated are J. D. Salinger's Nine Stories, Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint, Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything is Illuminated, J. K. Rowling's The Casual Vacancy, and Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife. Gavron is the singer and songwriter with Israeli cult pop band The Mouth and Foot, which has released five albums between 1989 and 2013. He is the founder and captain of the Israeli Writers Football national team. He was the chief writer of video game Peacemaker.

Personal life

Gavron lives in Tel Aviv. He is divorced and has two daughters.

Awards and accolades

  • The Hilltop won the Israeli Bernstein Prize and was long listed for the Sapir Prize.
  • CrocAttack won the Courrier International Prix in France and the "Buch für die Stadt" prize in Cologne, Germany. It was short listed for the Adei-Wizo Prize in Italy and long listed for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize in the US.
  • Hydromania won the Wizo Prize in the Netherlands and the Geffen Award in Israel.
  • 2010: DAAD artists-in-Berlin fellowship.
  • 2011: Israeli Prime Minister Award for Authors

    Works

  • Ice : novel, Tel Aviv: Gvanim, 1997.
  • Sex in the Cemetery : story collection, Tel Aviv: Zmora-Bitan, 2000.
  • Moving : novel, Or Yehuda: Zmora-Bitan Publishing, 2003.
  • CrocAttack : novel, Or Yehuda: Kinneret Zmora-Bitan, 2006. : CrocAttack, 4th Estate, 2010; English : Almost Dead, HarperCollins, 2010; English
  • Hydromania : novel, Or Yehuda: Kinneret Zmora-Bitan, 2008.
  • Eating Standing Up : collection of journalism, Jerusalem: Uganda, 2009.
  • The Hilltop : novel, Tel Aviv: Books in the Attic, 2013. : The Hilltop, Scribner, 2014; English.
  • Eighteen Lashes, Books in the Attic, 2017..
  • The Cement, Pardes Publishing, 2023.
  • Don't You Want Me, Books in the Attic, 2025.