MISHOL, AGI

MISHOL, AGI (1947– ), Hebrew poetess. Mishol was born in Hungary to Holocaust survivors who came to Israel in 1950. She earned her B.A. and M.A. in Hebrew Literature from the Hebrew University and published her first collection of poems Nanny ve-Sheneinu ("Nanny and Both of Us") in 1972. Nine further collections followed, including Gallop (1980) and Re'eh Sham ("Look, There," 1999). In 2003 appeared Mivḥar ve-Ḥadashim ("Selection and New Poems") with an essay by Dan Miron entitled "Ha-Sibilah ha-Komit: Al Shiratah shel Agi Mishol" (293–443). Mishol belongs to the great dynasty of Hebrew women poets, maintains Miron. He underlines her stylistic individualism and her humorous outlook on life and on the self as a necessary condition for personal and communal mental health. Mishol was awarded the Yehuda Amichai Prize (2002) and the Tel Aviv Foundation Award. She teaches poetry in the M.A. Program in Creative Writing at Ben-Gurion University, works as a translator and literary critic for radio and written media, and grows peach and persimmon trees in her village, Kefar Mordechai. A bilingual edition, The Swimmers, appeared in English (1998). For further information concerning translations see the ITHL website at www.ithl.org.il. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: M. Harel, in: Haaretz Sefarim (July 27, 2005). (Anat Feinberg (2nd ed.)