Mati Shemoelof

In 2020 he published a long article about his belonging to the German culture. He asked: "Who owns German culture in this day and age? Can a Jewish or Israeli poet, writing in broken Hebrew, broken English, and broken German and living in a German-speaking region be considered a German, or a European, poet? Can Leah Goldberg’s and Amir Eshel’s works be incorporated into the local (German) curriculum as native works?".

He also was publishes regularly in Israel's leading media channels. He wrote a weekly column in the daily Israel HaYom (Israel Today), where he also posted literature reviews, and at Mako, the Internet news site of Keshet. Previously, he was a columnist at an Israeli news website, Ynet, (Israel's most popular news site), NRG -(Israel's #3 news site) at Ma’ariv., and at Walla!, Israel's most popular portal. He also appeared on TV, including as a panel member on Popolitika (public channel TV); The Owls (culture channel TV); Channel 10 News, and others.

In 2017 he published the first chapter from his coming novel “The German Hebrew Dialogue: Studies of encounter and exchange” edited by Amir Eshel and Rachel Seelig. De Gruyter publishers. Also he published an article about Mizrahim in Berlin on Jalta magazine, volume 2. On 2018 His first booklet was published in Germany: "...reißt die Mauern die zwischen 'uns' und 'inhen'", AphorismA Verlag, 2018. In 2018, he also wrote his first radio sketch for WDR channel. Shemoelof claims that he belongs not only to the Israeli Jewish culture but also to the German culture and he writers: : "For an Israeli entering a trilingual space (Hebrew, English, German), culture is no longer bounded by national borders."

Additionally, Shemoelof is a co-founder of "Culture Guerrilla", an Israeli movement which propagates poetry as an accessible art form, and promotes political causes by means of art performed in public. Despite the usually exclusive nature of poetry and poetry reading, the movement has achieved significant success in high-profile cases regarding contemporary economical and social events, reaching front headlines in Israel, along with several journalistic mentions abroad, the most notable of which was a New York Times article. In 2013, the "Culture Guerrilla" publishers, under Shemoelof's supervision, edited two editions of the new Mizrahi poetry collective named "Ars Poetics" that became one of the leading stages of the Mizrahi art scene in Israel. Shemoelof is also the co-founder of the Israeli Poets Union.

Shemoleof temporarily relocated to Berlin in September 2013. He considers it to be a political act, in order to rewrite the context of the Jewish national and creative revival. He sees the Israeli literary diaspora in Berlin as an endeavor to create an alternate narrative for the history of modern Jewish literature, which is usually exclusively entwined with the birthing of the state of Israel. He is one of founders of the Poetic Hafla, a multi-language Poetry-Art-Music parties in Berlin. On 2018 Shemoelof with Hila Amit created a new Jewish-Arabic literature "Anu: Jews and Arabs writing in Berlin".

In addition, he co-edited several poetry anthologies: "Aduma" (Red: An Anthology of Class Poetry), which had been sold in three editions since its first release in 2007; "Tehudot Zehut" (Echoing Identities) (2007), an anthology addressing the issues of third generation Mizrahi Jews in Israel, in which Shemoelof's shory autobiographical story "The Icebergs of the Memory" was published; "La-Tzet!" (To Get Out!), is a 2009 collection of visual art pieces and poems against the war in Gaza. "La-Tzet!" represents the ideological unification of the artistic and literary society in Israel, in revolt towards the complex political situation, and it was translated and published in both English and Arabic; "Al Tagidu BaGat", which was published in 2010 and explored the influence of the Palestinian Nakba on the Hebrew Poetry. Shemoelof was also the editor of the Israeli literary journal HaKivun Mizrah (Eastward) between 2006 and 2008.

Between 2006 and 2008, Shemoelof was part of MiMizrach Shemesh, an organization devoted to the Jewish tradition of social responsibility.

Shemoelof has published seven poetry books: "The Scar Minimizer" (2001); "Poetry Between Hazaz and Shemoelof" (2006); "Why Don’t I write Israeli Love Songs" (2010); "Appetite for Hunger" (2013), "Last tango in Berlin" (2014). "Hebrew from its inner outsiders" (2017) and "Bagdad - Haifa - Berlin" (2019).

Shemoelof was awarded several notable prizes for his works. Some notable ones are the prize for "Best Debut Poetry Book of the Year", awarded by the National Art Trust of the National Lottery, in 2001; the prize for "Best Poetry Book of the Year", awarded by the Haifa Cultural Foundation, in 2006; an Honorable Mention, awarded by the Israeli Haaretz magazine during its annual short story contest, in 2011; Best poetry book of the year (Haifa Cultural Foundation 2006); and the highly appreciated Acum Prize for advocating literature in Israel, in 2013. Additionally, his play "What Has the Memorial Day Service Become" appeared in the Small-Bama festival at the University of Tel Aviv.

Shemoelof received his BA degree from the Department of Theater at Tel Aviv University, and an MA degree in History from the University of Haifa. His MA thesis was titled, "The cultural and mythical meanings of the appearance of the character of Malcolm X in Spike Lee movie (1992)". For this work, he received the Dean’s Prize of Excellence. He was pursuing a PhD in Literature at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and left in order to focus on his writing.

Mati Shemoelof (Hebrew: מתי שמואלוף ‎, born July 11, 1972), is an Israeli author, poet, editor, journalist and activist. His first short story collection, "Remnants of the Cursed Book", was published in 2015, and has won the 2015 award for Best Book of the Year of "Yekum Tarbut" website. "Bagdad - Haifa - Berlin" - His first Bi-Lingual collection of poems was published in Germany by Aphorisma Verlag.