Sivan Beskin

Vilnius is a multi-cultural city: there are Lituanian, Russian, Polish, and Jewish elements there. I went to a Russian-language school, but I was born into a world in which, necessarily, you hear several languages spoken around you. It educates and develops you differently. You learn not to fear the other. When you read a book, there are words you don't understand – and you take it in stride. You develop curiosity and a tolerance for the unknown.

Hebrew University literary scholar Ariel Hirschfeld, reviewing the inaugural issue as a whole in an essay titled "Narcissus as scarecrow", rejected the poetic approach of all the poets in the issue, judging their poetry – which is metered and rhymed – "anachronistic ... simplistic, rhetorical, and overexcited". Of Beskin herself he wrote that she is "nothing but an angry pose", and that her poetry "lacks irony".

In 2011, she published a second poetry book, מסעו של יונה (Hebrew: Jonah's Journey), including Beskin's Hebrew translations of poetry by Marina Tsvetaeva alongside original Hebrew poetry. A third book of Hebrew poetry was published in 2017, titled אחותי יהונתן (Hebrew: Jonathan, My Sister).

Beskin also translates into Russian, especially poetry by Leah Goldberg (also raised in Lithuania). Beskin was interviewed about her translation work in the 2011 French-Israeli documentary film Traduire.

In 2006, Beskin published her first volume of poetry, יצירה ווקאלית ליהודי, דג ומקהלה (Hebrew: A Vocal Work for Jew, Fish, and Choir). Unusually, the poems are organized in the book under headings not of poetic genres such as sonnets, but of musical genres such as blues, cabaret, and rock 'n' roll. Beskin said in an interview: "The only division that made sense to me was to divide in this musical way. I warmly recommend reading the book out loud. Every book of poetry I love must be read aloud. I always do that, and that's how I remember the poems, too." Of her deliberate mixing of language registers and cultural references, she remarked:

In 2006, Beskin's first book received both positive (Ziva Shamir, Menachem Ben, Daniel Oz) and negative reviews (Daphna Schori, Shimon Bouzaglo). Oz specifically praised Beskin's poetry for its musicality, humor, and playfulness, as well as for the inventive rhyming combining "highbrow" and "lowbrow" culture (e.g. rhyming "Sonic Youth and DEUS" with "the forest of Orpheus").

The 2005 publication of "Ho!", with eight poems by Beskin, attracted significant critical attention, and sparked some critical debate: It received a positive review from critic Nissim Calderon.

In the early 2000s she first published poetry, in Hebrew, on the Israeli Internet site New Stage, and in the online poetry magazine "Anonymous Fish?". Later, she had poems published in the literary journal "Helicon", and in the inaugural issue of "Ho!" (2005). Starting with "Ho!"'s fourth issue, in 2006, Beskin also serves on its editorial board.

Critic and literary editor Eli Hirsch described Beskin as "a central figure in the resurgence of Hebrew poetry in [the 2000s]", and noted that whereas the first book was "semi-decadent, playful, defiant", this book is different: personal, focused on growing up, on family, stability, and introspection.

Sivan Beskin (born August 31, 1976) is an Israeli poet, translator, and literary editor.

Born in 1976 in Vilnius, in Soviet Lithuania, Beskin emigrated to Israel with her family in 1990, settling in the kibbutz Ein Carmel. She later moved to Haifa, majoring in plastic arts in high school. In her mandatory service in the Israeli Defense Force she served as an instructor at the central computers unit, Mamram. She went on to complete a bachelor's degree in economics at the Technion university in Haifa. She has been living in Tel Aviv since 2002, working as a information systems analyst.