Learning to be present
Israeli author Yoav Avni has translated his own novel, Time Clocks, into English. He spoke to the AJN about humour, history and the moment we tend to overlook.
Long before Yoav Avni knew what being a writer involved, he knew he wanted to be one. By second or third grade, reading a book was no longer enough.
“I did not only want to disappear into it as a reader,” the Israeli author told The AJN. “I wanted to understand how it had been made, and eventually to be the person making one.”
Avni has since published nine books in Hebrew and works as a literary translator and writing mentor. He says that double instinct has stayed with him.
“There is always a double perspective: part of me stands slightly to the side, watching, noticing, listening; another part wants to enter the conversation, to connect, and to answer back,” he said. “Writing lets me do both at once.”
His latest book, Time Clocks, is now out in English, translated by Avni himself. Set in Tel Aviv, it follows a man named Boaz, who finds himself alongside three strangers from very different periods of history: Mazi, Lucien and Yatir.
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