Etgar Keret on Becoming a ‘World Champion’ Writer
This week at Manhattan’s Spanish and Portuguese synagogue, writer and director Etgar Keret appeared before the book group of Dor Chadash, an organization that brings together Israeli and American Jews. Much like his stories, Keret, the author of “The Girl on the Fridge” and “Missing Kissinger,” among other books, was incredibly approachable and exciting.
In response to a question about those who have criticized his stories for seeming as if they were written “on a bus,” the writer explained that there are different models of writers. “One structures his stories to say, ‘I am smarter than you and I know more.’ And the other says, ‘I don’t know more than you. I just want to share my experiences with you.’”
Keret said that he prefers the latter because he likes his stories to feel like the writer is speaking to the reader.
That is not to say that there is not a lot of work that goes into his stories. They often start out to be 20 pages, and are ultimately cut down to 10 sentences, he said.
At the book club event, he related how an Israeli soldier came up to him after a reading and said, “I could have written that.” And Keret responded, “That’s very nice. But you don’t have to because I already did it.” He didn’t take what the soldier was saying as a criticism, but rather that his work succeeded in referencing something inside the soldier that was true for them both.
He told the group: “When people say, I read your story and then I wrote my story, it is the biggest compliment. When writers make you feel intimidated, I don’t like it. I don’t like the idea that you have to come to a writer kneeling.”
His advice to writers: “If you try to write like Dostoyevsky you will never write like Dostoyevsky. But if you write like yourself, you will be world champion.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
