Etgar Keret (Hebrew: אתגר קרת , born August 20, 1967) is an Israeli writer known for his short stories, graphic novels, and scriptwriting for film and television. Read full biography of Etgar Keret →
I was first introduced to Kafka's writing during my compulsory army-service basic training. During that period, Kafka's fiction felt... →
In Israel, the role of the writer is dictated by the language in which you write. Writers see themselves as cultural prophets.
In the army you feel violated - there's no private space. Writing was a life-saver, a way of recovering private territory.
When I started writing my stories, I thought that not only nobody outside my language, but nobody outside my neighbourhood would get them.
Writing a story is kind of like surfing, as opposed to the novel, where you use a GPS to get somewhere. With surfing, you kind of jump.
Being published in Arabic is a strong and consistent wish I have. I live in the Middle East and want to be in some sort of an unpragmatic dialogue... →
I don't have Facebook or Twitter accounts yet. Being a compulsive storyteller, I always make up for myself discouraging stories about how such... →
I rarely return to characters. My characters, at least most of them, are much more a part of that superorganism that is the story than separate and... →
I see creative-writing classes as some sort of AA meeting. It is more of a support group for people who write than an actual course in which you... →
I used to feel that if I say something's wrong, I have to say how it could be made right. But what I learned from Kurt Vonnegut was that I could... →
It took a lot to understand that the interest in both writing a story and reading it is not in the objective dangers someone takes. You don't... →
Most of the Jewish writer friends I have are American, and I feel closer to them because they're always obsessed with one issue - identity: what... →
What you experience in the army, aged 18 to 21, is what you take through all your life. You cross invisible lines: you shoot someone, get shot, break... →
Etgar Keret (Hebrew: אתגר קרת , born August 20, 1967) is an Israeli writer known for his short stories, graphic novels, and scriptwriting for film and television.