We Had an Understanding

Dahlia Ravikovitch was a poet, author, and peace activist. Born in Ramat-Gan, she grew up on Kibbutz Geva and in Haifa. She had a troubled childhood and adolescence, living in foster homes before beginning her military service and studying literature at the Hebrew University. Her first book of poetry, Ahavat tapuaḥ ha-zahav (The Love of an Orange) was published in 1959 to great acclaim. Many of her works have been translated, and a number of her poems have been set to music. Ravikovitch also translated works into Hebrew, including the poetry of W. B. Yeats and T. S. Eliot. As a prominent left-wing activist and social critic, Ravikovitch became deeply involved in the peace movement in the 1980s. The work of her later years reflected her passionate activism. She received the 1998 Israel Prize for Poetry.