Karen Alkalay-Gut ( born 29 March 1945) is an award-winning poet, professor, and editor who lives in Israel and writes in English.
Born in London on the last night of the Blitz buzz bombs, Alkalay-Gut moved with her parents and brother Joseph Rosenstein to Rochester, New York in 1948. She graduated from the University of Rochester, with a BA with honors, and a MA in English literature in 1967. From 1967–70 she taught at the State University of New York at Geneseo before returning to complete her doctorate. In 1972 she moved to Israel, and began teaching at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev (1972–76). In 1977 she moved to Tel Aviv University, where she continues to teach.
Because it demands you think of words
Not to convey information
And perhaps to lie,
Like so many users of words
...
The three young men and the woman
At the table next to us
Are eating Chinese
And speaking Arabic
...
This is where
The gender difference
Becomes clear.
The way a man steps in
...
Strange we don't think about those who care about us
But spend our days worrying about those who don't.
I like to imagine that on their deathbeds
...
The patients with brain injuries
Sit in the common space
At the end of the hall
Where they have been placed.
...