Itamar Orlev’s BANDIT wins the 2015 Sapir Prize for First Novel
26th January, 2016
Congratulations to author Itamar Orlev, whose debut novel, BANDIT, has been awarded the 2015 Sapir Prize for First Novel. Established in 2000, the award is the foremost literary prize in Israel and is known as the Hebrew Booker, celebrating the finest literature published by an Israeli author that year.
Speaking of their decision to award the prize to Orlev’s BANDIT, the judges commented,
“With powerful momentum, Itamar Orlev takes us from Israel to Poland, where the hero of the novel sets out on an eventful journey to rediscover his ostracized father, from whom his mother had escaped with her children to Israel. […] The profound and perceptive analysis of the father-son relationship, the incredibly fine and sensitive observations regarding the essence of old age, and the desperate, futile hope of making amends are among the forces that drive this book forward, turning its read into a gripping, staggering experience in which any reader will find a life truth.”