August 10, 2010, Updated September 24, 2012

Israeli author Etgar Keret has received the Chevalier (Knight) Medallion of France’s Order of Arts and Letters. Recipients are recognized for the quality of their work and their close ties with the French public.

Keret is considered one of the prominent fiction writers of his generation. His books have become bestsellers both in Israel and abroad. Keret’s short stories have appeared in Le Monde, The New York Times, The Guardian, and the Paris Review, among others.

Among the prizes that Keret has received are: the Book Publishers Association’s Platinum Prize (several times); the Prime Minister’s Prize; the Ministry of Culture’s Cinema Prize; the Jewish Quarterly Wingate Prize (UK); and the St. Petersburg Public Library’s Foreign Favorite Award. He was also a finalist for the prestigious Frank O’Connor Short Story Collection Prize.

Keret is also a lecturer in the Department of Hebrew Literature at Ben-Gurion University (BGU) of the Negev. Israel’s BGU Professor Emeritus and literary giant Amos Oz was also a recipient of the award.

More than 40 of Keret’s stories have been made into short movies, and one of them won the American MTV Prize in 1998. His recent movie Skin Deep won an Israeli Oscar Award and first prize at several international film festivals.

His latest book Suddenly a Knock on the Door has become a bestseller. Keret’s books have been published in 29 languages and in 34 countries.

The author will present a lunch and learn session at Greenberg & Traurig, LLP in Chicago, on Friday morning, August 27.

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