BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL -- July 28, 2010 – Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) lecturer Etgar Keret from the Department of Hebrew Literature has received the Chevalier (Knight) Medallion of France's Order of Arts and Letters. Recipients are recognized for the quality of their work and their close ties with the French public.
France's Order for Arts and Letters was founded in 1957 and is awarded to a limited number of artists each year by the French Minister of Culture and Communication. The award marks their outstanding contributions to the fields of art and literature in France and the rest of the world. A number of foreign recipients are included every year. Other Israelis who have received this award in the past include BGU Professor Emeritus and literary giant Amos Oz.
Etgar Keret is considered one of the prominent fiction writers of his generation. His books have become bestsellers in both Israel and abroad and have received international acclaim. Keret's short stories have been in many publications, including Le Monde, The New York Times, The Guardian, and the Paris Review.
He has received the Book Publishers Association's Platinum Prize several times, the Prime Minister's Prize, the Ministry of Culture's Cinema Prize, the Jewish Quarterly Wingate Prize (UK), and the St. Petersburg Public Library's Foreign Favorite Award; he was also a finalist for the prestigious Frank O'Connor Short Story Collection Prize.
More than 40 of Keret's stories have been made into short movies, and one of them won the American MTV Prize in 1998. His recent movie Skin Deep won an Israeli Oscar Award and first prize at several international film festivals.
Etgar Keret's books have been published in 29 languages and in 34 countries. His latest book Pit'om Dfika Badelet (Suddenly a Knock on the Door) has become a bestseller.
American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev will host Etgar Keret at a lunch and learn session at Greenberg & Traurig, LLP in Chicago, on Friday August 27, 2010 at 11:45 am. For more information and to RSVP contact Judy Rosen at greatlakes@aabgu.org or call (847) 325-5009.
Etgar Keret's participation is made possible by the Israel Studies Project of the Jewish United Fund and the University of Illinois.
About American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) plays a vital role in sustaining David Ben-Gurion's vision, creating a world-class institution of education and research in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the University's expertise locally and around the globe. With some 20,000 students on campuses in Beer-Sheva, Sede Boqer and Eilat in Israel's southern desert, BGU is a university with a conscience, where the highest academic standards are integrated with community involvement, committed to sustainable development of the Negev. For more information, please visit www.aabgu.org.