Nava Semel was born in Jaffa, daughter of Mimi (Margalit) and the late Itzhak Artzi, both Holocaust survivors. She is the younger sister of Israeli Rock star Shlomo Artzi.
She has a MA in Art History from Tel Aviv University. She had published sixteen books, plays, opera libretti, poetry and screenplays. Her work focuses on the second generation in Israel. Her characters are native born Israelis who confront their identity issues and deal with the scars of the painful past.
Semel also writes plays and translates for the Hebrew stage. Her most acclaimed novel "And the Rat Laughed" was adapted into an opera libretti in 2005.
Her works were translated into many languages and published in many countries. Among her numerous awards she is the recipient of "The Israeli Prime Minister's Award for Literature" in 1996, "The Women Writers of the Mediterranean Award" in France 1994 and "Women of the Year in Literature of the City of Tel Aviv" 2006.
Semel is a member of the board of directors of Massuah - the Institute for Holocaust Studies at Kibbutz Tel Itzhak and was a member of the Board of Governors of “Yad Vashem” for many years. She was also on the board of directors of the "New Foundation for Television and Cinema".She is married to Noam Semel the Director General of the Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv and a mother of three children. She lives in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Poems of Pregnancy and Birth — Poetry Collection, 1985.
Hat of Glass, the first Israeli book in prose to focus on the children of Holocaust survivors. Published in 1985; new edition 1998; translated into German, Italian and Romanian. Stories from the collection were published in Great Britain, Spain, Greece, France, Turkey, Albania and China.
Paper Bride - a novel, published in 1996; Romania 2000. Germany 2003. Finalist of the YA German book award 2004.
Becoming Gershona — YA novel, published by Viking-Penguin, winner of "The National Jewish Book Award" in the USA 1990; Translated into Italian, German, Romanian, and Dutch. Adapted for Israeli television.
Flying Lessons — a cross-over novel, published by Simon & Schuster 1995 The novel tells the story of a Holocaust survivor from Tunisia who teaches an Israeli girl how to fly. Adapted for the Israeli television. The book was chosen as one of the best young adults novels in Germany 1995; Translated into German, Czech, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Serbian and Albanian. In 2009 it became an opera, composed by Ella Milch-Sheriff, directed by Yael Ronen, a co-production of the Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv with the Israeli New Opera and the Beer Sheva Sinfonyetta Orchestra. The libretto was published as a book by the Institute for Israeli Drama 2010.
Night Games — a novel, Published in 1994.
Who Stole the Show? — children book, published in 1997, won the Illustrated Book of the Year Award 1998 and was cited at the "Ze'ev Award" 1999. Published in Italy 2003. English-Romanian bi-lingual edition 2008. A television series based on the book was produced in 1999.
Night Poems 2000, and The Courage to be Afraid 2005, two collections of poetry for young people on darkness and fears. Poems from the collection were published in Great Britain, Germany and the USA. They were also composed by Ella Milch-Sheriff and Hava Alberstein.
And the Rat Laughed - a novel, published in 2001 to rave reviews. Published in Germany 2007 and Australia 2008. The book is currently being made into a movie.
IsraIsland - a novel, published in 2006. A documentary following the book is in the making (director: Oshra Schwartz). Excerpts were published in the USA.
Beginner's Love - YA book, published in 2006. Italy 2007, The Czech Republic 2008 and Germany 2010. The book won the "Best 7" award of the German Radio 2010.
Australian Wedding - an autobiographical fiction, published in 2009. Excerpts were published in the USA and Australia.
An Old Woman — a monodrama on the life of the elderly, Haifa Municipal Theatre 1983. It ran until 1989.
The Last winter — original dialogues for an Israeli-American feature film co-production. Director: Riky Shelach. Actresses: Kathleen Quinlan and Yona Elian, 1983.
Hunger - Radio Drama (based on a story from "Hat of Glass"), produced by the WDR in Germany, 1989.
The Child behind the Eyes — a monodrama, first produced in 1986, ran on the Israeli stage for 11 years. It has also been produced as a radio play by the BBC London, Radio France, Radio Belgium, Radio Spain, Radio Ireland, six radio stations in Germany, Radio Austria and Radio Romania. It won the "Best Radio Drama" award in Austria 1996, and has been produced on a CD. New Broadcast in Austria 2008. On the stage it was performed in Rome (1990), New York (1991), Los Angeles (1996), Prague (1997), Sibiu Theatre Festival (2004), Resita Theatre in Romania (2005), State Theatre of Ankara, Turkey (2005), Lodz Theatre - Poland (2006), Bucharest Theatre (2007). New production in Israel in Arabic 2006 with actress-singer Amal Murkus.
The play was published as a book in 1988 and as an e-book in 2002.
Saying Kaddish and Leave — a screenplay for a documentary on the Holocaust of the Jews in Romania. Produced by the Israeli Educational TV in 1999.
Thousand Calories — a TV drama, produced by the Israeli 2nd channel, 2002.
An Old Man — Monodrama, produced by the Israeli Theatre for Young People 2003.
And the Rat Laughed - An opera based on the novel, composed by Ella Milch-Sheriff, directed by Oded Kotler. Produced by the Israeli Chamber Orchestra and the Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv. World Premiere April 2005. The opera ran on the stage of the Cameri Theatre until 2009. Nava Semel and Ella Milch-Sheriff won the "Rosenblum Award" of the City of Tel Aviv. The opera was performed also in Warsaw 2006, Sibiu Festival 2007 and the National Theatre in Bucharest 2007. A new production of the opera opened in 2009 in Toronto, Canada on the stage of Opera York. It was performed in Hebrew.
Sneaking into the Bible — a song cycle on biblical themes, composed by Ella Milch-Sheriff. Ramat Gan Chamber Choir, conducted by Hanna Tsur. Premiered at the Abu Gosh Music Festival in 2005. Performed also at Tzavta Theatre 2005 and Ramat Gan Theatre 2007.
There in the World That Is New - a musical 6 minutes piece on a girl on her journey to Israel after the Holocaust. Composed by Ella Milch-Sheriff. Performed by Li-Ron Choir Herzliya, conducted by Ronit Shapira, Torchlight Assembly, Holocaust Memorial Day 2008 at Massuah, Institute for Holocaust Studies, Kibbutz Tel Yitzhak. Live broadcast on cable TV HOT.
Ballad of Three Prophets — a 10 minutes musical piece on the three faiths, composed by Ella Milch-Sheriff. Performed by Moran Choir, conducted by Neomi Faran. Premiered at the Song Bridge Festival, Poland on May 8, 2008. Performed also on Holocaust International Commemoration Day 2009 at Massuah, Institute for Holocaust Studies, Kibbutz Tel Yitzhak.
Whereabouts Unknown — a TV drama on new immigrants up[on their arrival to Israel in 1949. Produced by the Israeli Television- First Channel (Director: Yahli Bergman) 2010.
