Repatriate who writes in Hebrew. Olesya Kantor's confession
In Israeli literature there is an unwritten rule. A repatriate who arrived in the country as an adult usually does not write literary prose in Hebrew. Speaking, reading, doing business, giving interviews - yes. Writing…
Assessment
A Russian-speaking immigrant who arrived in Israel as an adult has published two novels in Hebrew, a language she learned after moving. This challenges an unwritten rule that literary Hebrew is usually mastered only by those who acquire it in childhood. The author's progression from no Hebrew to published fiction in under three decades is the notable fact here, not the literary quality of the work itself.