An Appetite for Hunger

Poetry

Mati Shemoelof
Nahar Sfarim, Binyamina, 2013
Language: Hebrew

An Appetite for Hunger is Mati Shemoelof’s fourth poetry collection. Published in 2013 by Nahar Sfarim, the book continues his direct engagement with social inequality, political violence, Mizrahi identity and the experience of living in an Israeli society marked by deep economic and cultural divisions.

The poems combine anger, political protest and everyday experience, while leaving space for humor, intimacy and compassion. The collection moves between the personal and the social, examining the relationship between language, power and everyday life.

The title poem, “An Appetite for Hunger,” became a defining expression of Shemoelof’s political and poetic position: a refusal to accept the conventions of polite public discourse and a demand that poetry confront what society would rather leave unseen. The poem was later included in an anthology of protest poetry.

Poetry critic Ilan Berkovitz wrote:

“Real protest emerges when the person protesting—in this case, the poet—is willing to pay a personal price for his words; when he goes against the current, risks writing what is forbidden and hidden from view, and refuses the business lunch.”

The book received creation grants from the ACUM Foundation and the Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts in Tel Aviv, as well as the AHI Prize for Creative Work in 2013.

Reception

The collection was widely discussed in the context of contemporary Israeli protest poetry. Ilan Berkovitz emphasized its willingness to risk writing what is forbidden or hidden from view and to refuse the conventions of the “business lunch.”

The collection received extensive attention in the Israeli press and literary media, including Haaretz, Yedioth Ahronoth, Maariv, Ynet and other literary journals, radio and television programs. It became an important part of Shemoelof’s ongoing engagement with protest poetry and with the relationship between literature and social struggle.

Book Details

Title: An Appetite for Hunger
Original title: האסון מתחיל בארוחת עסקים
Author: Mati Shemoelof
Publisher: Nahar Sfarim
Year: 2013
Language: Hebrew
Genre: Poetry