Literatureרועי צ'יקי ארד

Roy Arad

Roy "Chicky" Arad is an Israeli poet, singer, writer and artist who founded the poetry magazine Maayan.

born 1976Founding Maayan poetry magazineInventing the Kimo poetic formPing Pong at Eurovision 2000The book "The Israeli Dream"

Born: 5 January 1976, Beersheba
Occupation: poet, editor, journalist, newspaper editor

Roy Arad was born in 1976 in Beersheba

Roy "Chicky" Arad was born in Beersheba in 1976. He works as a poet, singer, writer, artist and political activist.

Arad founded and edited Maayan, a periodical for poetry, literature and ideas, together with Joshua Simon. He created the Kimo, a Hebrew version of the haiku with three lines of 10, 7 and 6 syllables. His books include the novel "The Israeli Dream" from 2010 and "The Pelican" from 2013.

In 2000 his band Ping Pong represented Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden with the song "Sameach" and placed 22nd. He also released solo albums, among them "I Vanunu" in 2005.

Arad edited the Firma supplement of Globes from 2000 to 2009 and from 2010 wrote about social issues for Haaretz. He wrote scripts for the TV series "Toffee and the Gorilla" and made a documentary about construction workers killed in Israel.

He was active in the group Guerrilla Tarbut and coedited poetry anthologies against the war in Gaza and after the social protest of 2011. In 2012 he co-curated an exhibition opposing plans for war with Iran.

Roy Arad's life in 8 milestones

1976
Born in Beersheba.
2000
Represented Israel at Eurovision with the band Ping Pong.
2003
His poem "The Owl" was part of Michal Helfman's work at the Venice Biennale.
2005
Released the album "I Vanunu".
2009
His poem "The Night's End Anthem" was performed under Zubin Mehta for Tel Aviv's 100 years.
2010
Published the novel "The Israeli Dream".
2012
Co-curated an exhibition against war with Iran.
2013
Published the book "The Pelican".