Gali-Dana Singer

Gali-Dana Singer (; born April 23, 1962) is a Russian and Hebrew poet, artist, photographer, and translator who was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. She studied at the Leningrad State Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinematography in her hometown for three years, before deciding to leave without obtaining a degree. She immigrated to Israel from her native Leningrad in 1988, passing through and living in Riga with her husband Nekod Singer for three years before eventually settling down in Jerusalem where they currently reside. In the Israeli capital, her literary career and engagement in Russian and Hebrew culture and literature flourished.

The early years of her literary career took place in Russia, though she never participated in writing groups and only read her poetry to "her father and an older friend."

Two years after settling in Israel, she displayed some of her work, namely her book illustrations, at exhibitions of children's books at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem alongside her husband. The bulk of her career, distinctions and legacy has concerned Russian and Hebrew literature, poetry and translations. In 1992, Gali-Dana published her first official book of poetry titled Collection which was followed by another, Adel Kil'ka. From, the following year.

Immigration and Integration In the late 80's, it was impossible for Singer and her husband to leave the Soviet Union from Leningrad to Israel, so they became Refuseniks and moved to Riga where it was more possible to emigrate from.

Gali-Dana Singer has mentioned having different expectations from Israeli life and culture, though it has not prevented her from integrating. A main part of her struggle has been with the language barrier and being able to find the correct words. On this, Gali-Dana Singer made the following remark:

"They accept... the supremacy of culture that they know and love. And what is more, some of the culture's consumers also feel that they are superior to Russian culture produced here. They attend every show that is imported from Russia, but will not buy tickets for a show in Russian that is produced here. The press emphasizes this position, probably to flatter the immigrants, which is a very common way of thinking. I find it really sad." for Poetry International conducted by Lisa Katz, an English-language editor, Gali-Dana provided some detail concerning her experience learning Hebrew, and how she likened it to Russian: "[...] The fact that I am so close to language in my Russian poems is what caused my proximity to Hebrew. I accepted the new language in exactly the same proportions. Of course I'm the same poet but I write different things in a different language. What moves me to write is mainly the experience of language. If I wanted to express only my personal experience, my life, I wouldn't need to write in a different language." Poetry International also features her poem 'The one whose silence is the world' (see link). She also appears in a University of Iowa anthology of English translations of Russian-language women poets.

As of 2020, she is currently working with American poet Stefan Ellis on a collaborative project called "Other or Some: A Collaborative Poetry Project."

In total, she has published seven volumes in Russian and four in Hebrew. Furthermore, she has translated numerous poems and has been a leader in workshops tasked with creating Russian and Hebrew anthologies.