Iftach Alony

Iftach Alony (; born 15 September 1955) is an Israeli writer, poet, and architect; he is the founder and chief editor of The Short Story Project, and the founder and co-editor of Afik – Israeli Literature.

Biography Early life

Alony was born and raised on Kibbutz Gvulot, located in the northwestern Negev desert. His parents, Shimon and Shoshana, were among the kibbutz founders. His father arrived in Israel at the age of seventeen on the Kastner train. His mother, Shoshana, was born on Moshav Givat Hen, near Ra'anana; her father, Israel, had been a member of the group of vegan pioneers who tried to settle Mount Kinneret and later deserted the area.

he served as executive producer of the film "To Each His Everest," following a group of people with special needs to the Everest Base Camp. He also produced various travel films broadcast on channel 2, including: “Kailash,” about a journey to the mountain holy to Hinduism and Buddhism, which included a personal meeting and extended interview with the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, an interview that deeply influenced Alony later in life; the series "The Seven Peaks", which followed the journey of mountain climber Doron Erel to the highest mountain on every continent;

he was also the executive producer of the film "Monks in the Desert – Spiritual Warriors", screened at the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival.

Iftach Alony also initiated and participated in various delegations, which included accompanying hunters of the Inuit tribe to the Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, and journeys to the Libyan Desert, the regions of the Caucasus (where he climbed Mount Elbrus), India, Nepal, and Tibet.

In 2005, Alony participated in the group exhibition "Communal Sleeping," curated by Tali Tamir at the Helena Rubinstein Pavilion of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. The exhibition provided a critical view of the communal sleeping practices in the children's houses of the kibbutz. Antony's work, "A Lexicon of Communal Words", exhibited index cards with words representing basic concepts of life on a kibbutz projected on a screen.

Literature

In 2009, Alony published his first novel, "Thief of Dreams" (Yediot Ahronoth and Sifrei Hemed), edited by Anat Levit.

His first book of poems, "Let the Thorns Die," edited by Professor Dan Miron, was published in 2013. In 2014, he published his second book of poems, "Gravity," edited by Dror Burstein. Both books were published by Afik, and Alony's poems were published in various newspapers.

In 2015, Alony's collection of short stories, "Garuda’s Gaze," edited by Nurit Zarchi and Professor Dan Miron,

In 2014, Alony established "Maaboret—The Short Story Project," an online project that curates and publishes short stories from across the world; the stories appear in their original language (3000 stories from more than 50 states in 40 languages), and are also translated into English, Spanish, German, Arabic, and Hebrew,

both in text and audio. Each story is uniquely displayed with video images. The project allows free access and is adaptable to any digital device. The project is supported by Mifal HaPayis Council for the Culture and Arts, the Goethe-Institut, and private agencies.

There are 200,000 entries per month.

As part of the Short Story Project, Alony created the literary production "Listen to This", an ensemble of four actors (Menashe Noy, Alma Dishi, Or Rotem, Matan Ksirer) reading short stories from the project, accompanied by a pianist and a percussionist; Tzavta Theater staged the production.

In 2014 and 2017, Alony participated in the Metula Poetry Festival.

In 2024, he was awarded the Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works.

Personal life

Alony is the father of four, and lives with his partner.

"Lost" (Afik, 2021) Aloni's physical and spiritual journeys in the world: soul searching meeting in Dharamshala with the Dalai Lama, a desert journey with the author Nurit Zarchi, conversation with the archi-spy Rafi Eitan, looking for the god Anubis with a Bedouin and intimidating meeting with the African dictator Omar Bongo.

Works Poetry "Let the Thorns Die" (Afik, 2013); edited by Professor Dan Miron "Gravity", a selection of poems and flash fiction (Afik, 2014); edited by Dror Burstein

Fiction "Thief of Dreams" (Yediot Ahronoth - Sifrei Hemed, 2009); editor: Anat Levit "Spare Parts" (Afik, 2012); editor: Lily Perry "Garuda’s Gaze" (Afik, 2015); editor: Nurit Zarchi "Plagues Now" (Afik, 2016); editor: Nurit Zarchi "Titanic in the Sands" (Afik, 2018); editor: Nurit Zarchi "Lost" (Afik, 2021); editor: Yahil Zaban "The book of Running" (Afik, 2024)