BEJERANO, MAYA

BEJERANO, MAYA (1949–), Israeli poet. Bejerano was born in Kibbutz Elon and spent her childhood in Jaffa. She studied literature and philosophy at Bar-Ilan University as well as violin and flute and was also an amateur photographer. Holding an M.A. in Library Science from the Hebrew University, she worked as a consultant at the Tel Aviv Municipal Library. She published 11 collections of poems, including Bat Ya'anah ("Ostrich," 1978), Ibud Netunim 52 ("Data Processing 52," 1983), Livyatan ("Whale," 1990), Anaseh Laga'at be-Tabur Bitni ("Trying to Touch My Belly Button," 1998). "Selected Poems 1972–1986" appeared in 1987 and 2005 saw a volume of collected works under the title Tedarim. While in "Trying to Touch My Belly Button" she movingly depicted her childhood experiences and her relationship with her parents, other poems address female concerns, the joys and anguish of love, and politics, and describe the sights and moods of Tel Aviv, especially the socalled "Shenkin myth." Descriptions of nature, states of consciousness, actions and moods blend in an attempt to transform poetry into "data processing" – the title of one of her collections. For Bejerano poetry writing is a kind of linguistic and emotional laboratory: "The Hebrew language is my friend", she writes. Bejerano was awarded the Bialik Prize (2002) and the Bernstein Prize (1988). Bejerano also wrote books for children, a collection of stories, and a play. Individual poems have been translated into various languages. Information is available at the ITHL website at www.ithl.org.il. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: M. Kobovy, "From 'Data Processing' to 'Sex, Car and Love Later,'" in: J.R. Baskin (ed.) Women of the Word (1994), 343–66; Y. Laor, in: Haaretz (May 6, 2005). (Anat Feinberg (2nd ed.)