Nava Semel

Award-winning Israeli author and playwright Nava Semel has written seventeen books of fiction, plays, poetry, scripts and opera libretti. Born in Jaffa-Tel Aviv and has an MA in Art History from the Tel Aviv University. Her 1985 book Hat of Glass was the first Israeli work of fiction focusing on the second generation.

Translated into many languages she is the recipient of numerous awards, among them the National Jewish Book Award USA 1990, Women Writers of the Mediterranean Award in France 1994, the Israeli Prime Minister Award 1996 and Woman of the Year in Literature – The Tel Aviv Award 2007. Her latest novel “Rosh Akum” 2012 (Screwed on backwards”) recieved rave reviews.

And the Rat Laughed is Semel’s ambitious and challenging novel which invites readers to think about Christian responses to the Shoah, the role of technology in both informing and distorting the Holocaust, and how storytelling can preserve memory.