Etgar Keret
Etgar Keret
Etgar Keretis an Israeli writer known for his short stories, graphic novels, and scriptwriting for film and television...
NationalityIsraeli
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth20 August 1967
CountryIsrael
block reality thinking
I think living in Israel and wanting to change reality is the best prescription for never-ending writer's block.
war views wings
In the last war, people became vocal from the right-wing point of view: if you're liberal, then you're a traitor.
brother war son
During the war, there were people wishing me death, wishing my son death, wishing my wife death in very graphic ways. In the past, I would go overseas and I would say, "Israel is like my family: we disagree, but we're all brothers." I can't say that anymore, because life proves me wrong.
children father optimistic
I think the typical way is that usually Holocaust survivors are known to be very quiet and full of anxiety, many of them don't like life, don't trust people. But my parents were children during the Holocaust. And my father was very optimistic.
sports mother kids
When I was a kid, I wanted to make my parents happy. I'd always say to them, "What do you want me to do? Do sports? Be rich? Be funny?" My mother would say, "Whatever we want from you, you already gave us - we wanted you to be alive, and you made it."
writing people feelings
All my writing-life people kept telling me that I should stop writing short stories and start writing novels: my agent, my Israeli publisher, my foreign ones, my bank manager - they all felt and keep feeling that I'm doing something wrong here.
art decision stories
For me taking a pragmatic decision when it comes to art is almost an oxymoron. The reason I first picked up a pen and wrote a story had nothing pragmatic in it.
character writing plot
Making up characters and places and plots, unlike fixing your plumbing or doing dishes, is anything but practical or rational. I write what needs to be written the way that seems genuinely right.
lonely writing fiction
My first and biggest love was always fiction writing. But it is a very lonely pastime.
believe son holocaust
As the son of Holocaust survivors, this is life - you're put in a corner, and you have to get out. I believe that you can always get out.
children parent unhappy
As a child, I never wanted my parents to be unhappy, which meant that I would always contemplate what would make them happy.
writing wife stories
I remember a point in [writing] the story where I said, "This isn't working, I should go and buy something at the supermarket or my wife will kill me." Then I said, "No, I'll go on."
fall stories
Often, the stories are very much like trust falls. You fall, and you hope the story's going to catch you.
collaboration artistic sometimes
The amazing thing about an artistic collaboration is that it is as intense and intimate as a romantic one. Sometimes even more so.