Elisha Porat

Elisha Porat was born in 1938 in Ein HaHoresh

Elisha Porat was born in 1938 at Kibbutz Ein HaHoresh, where he grew up and lived his whole life. His parents were among the founders of the kibbutz. His father, Eliyahu Porat, was active in the kibbutz movement and worked as a writer of opinion pieces and a translator.

From 1973 Porat published books of poetry and fiction, including 6 poetry collections, short stories, novellas and stories for children and youth. His poems deal with the place where he was born and raised, his Israeli and Hebrew world, and the changes in his life and in the land. His book Episode tells the life of Aryeh Lahola, and his 2008 essay collection Late Reading discusses writers such as Abba Kovner, Amir Gilboa and Uri Nissan Gnessin.

Many of his works were translated into English, including the story collections The Messiah of LaGuardia and Payback. From 2005 he wrote more than 450 encyclopedia entries, mostly on Hebrew and Yiddish writers, and called himself a literary detective. His poem Pḥita was carved in stone in the Ohel Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Porat was married to Yael and had 4 children. He died in March 2013 and was buried at Ein HaHoresh. His archive is kept at the National Library.