A short life of the author
Sayed Kashua (born 1975) is a Palestinian citizen of Israel who writes exclusively in Hebrew — a fact that is itself the central drama of his literary career. His novels and journalism explore what it means to be an Arab who has chosen to live and create within the language and culture of the state that occupies his people’s land, and the bitter comedy and psychological cost of that position.
Life and Career
Kashua was born in Tira, an Arab town in central Israel, and was educated at a boarding school in Jerusalem as one of few Arab students. He studied sociology and philosophy at the Hebrew University. His decision to write in Hebrew was not an accommodation but a provocation — a way of inserting an Arab voice into a language that was simultaneously his chosen medium and the language of a state that treated his people as second-class citizens.
Aravim Rokdim (Dancing Arabs, 2002; also published as Let It Be Morning in a different novel) was his debut — a darkly comic novel about a young Arab-Israeli intellectual navigating the impossible contradictions of his identity. The novel’s humor was corrosive and self-lacerating.
Va-yehi boker (Let It Be Morning, 2004) was set in an Arab village that is suddenly sealed off by the Israeli army without explanation — a scenario that used the siege as a metaphor for the permanent state of exception under which Arab citizens of Israel live. The novel was adapted into a film in 2021.
Second Person Singular (2010) was a literary thriller about an Arab lawyer in Jerusalem who discovers a love note in a used book and becomes obsessed with identifying its author — a premise that allowed Kashua to explore questions of identity, performance, and the desire to disappear into another life. Track Changes (2017) was his most autobiographical novel, written after he moved to the United States in 2014 following the Gaza war.
Key Works
- Dancing Arabs (2002)
- Let It Be Morning (2004)
- Second Person Singular (2010)
- Track Changes (2017)
Collecting Kashua
Hebrew first editions (Keter) are modestly priced. English translations (Grove Press) bring $15–$30. Second Person Singular is the most acclaimed title. Kashua’s unique position — a Palestinian voice in Hebrew literature — gives his work lasting historical and literary significance.