Reuven Ben-Yosef

Reuven Ben-Yosef was born in 1937 in New York City

Ben-Yosef was born Robert Eliot Reiss in New York City on May 31, 1937, to Joseph and Cecilia Reiss. He grew up in Manhattan and studied at The High School of Music & Art, where he became a professional jazz musician.

He finished high school in New Jersey and attended Oberlin College in Ohio. He then served in the U.S. Army in Heilbronn, Germany.

From 1957 to 1959 he published poems in American literary magazines and The New York Times. Before moving to Israel he published The Endless Seed, his only book in English. His father opposed his move and cut ties with him, and he lived in deep poverty.

In 1973 he published his first novel, The Way Back. In 1976 he moved to Jerusalem and worked as a translator and as a teacher of creative writing to high school students. In 1996 he founded a small publishing house, Sifre Bitzaron.

He died of lung cancer on March 9, 2001. He wrote 19 books of Hebrew poetry, 2 novels and 2 books of essays. In 2002 his wife published a memorial book with articles by his colleagues.