Etgar Keret 2014

At BorderKitchen he will be interviewed by Arjan Visser about his new short story collection Seven Good Years. In this new book, he reports in a tragicomic way on seven years of his personal life, which coincide with the first years of his son Lev’s life.

Israeli society is present in every story: whether it concerns his parents, who survived the Holocaust; his ultra-Orthodox sister, who lives with her eleven children in the most religious neighbourhood of Jerusalem; or his idolised brother, who advocates the legalisation of soft drugs and turns out to be a trained elephant whisperer.

With these stories at the intersection of journalism, autobiography and fiction, Keret offers a glimpse into his own life while also presenting a striking, moving and humorous portrait of contemporary Israel.

Keret previously wrote, among others, The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God and Glue. In addition to being a writer and university lecturer, Keret is also a filmmaker. Together with his wife Shira Geffen he won the Camera d’Or in Cannes for the film Jellyfish.

Seven Good Years is translated from English by Adriaan Krabbendam (original title Seven Good Years) and is published by Podium. The book can also be purchased at bookshop Paagman, the regular bookseller of BorderKitchen.

Date: Saturday 29 March 2014
Start: 20.00
Location: Zaal 3 (formerly Zeebelt), Constant Rebecqueplein 20A, The Hague
Tickets (€7.50) available via Theater aan het Spui: 070-346 5272 or kassa@theateraanhetspui.nl

Quotes:
“Etgar Keret is a genius.” – The New York Times

“Keret has us in his grip again. We forgive him. We want more.” – Le Figaro

“Brilliant. I know no one who writes like him.” – The Guardian

“The cheerful stories have a sad undertone, the raw and deeply tragic stories feel like feel-good stories; you read them with a smile.” – HP/De Tijd