What’s in here

Orna Coussin
Photo taken by: Yaeli Rinott Coussin

 

Hi, I’m Orna Coussin, a writer, essayist, and a writers’ mentor. I have published in Hebrew – my first writing language – 9 books of essays and stories to date.  After 20 years of writing for newspapers (Haaretz Daily and other publications) I have been facilitating writing workshops in narrative nonfiction for the past 14 years.

I was awarded the Prime Minister award for Hebrew writers (2009) and an Excellence in Teaching award at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design (2020) where I have been teaching critical writing for more than a decade.

What can you find Here?

In this site I present an example of my published personal essays (in Hebrew) as well as a few pieces of writing that are still in the process of thinking and editing. Also here: a selection of my writing in English, as well as one ongoing writing assignment – Notes From a Fallen Land – about these turbulent days in Israel under an unleashed government.

Why is all this in English?

For the first time in more than 30 years of writing, my family and friends in the UK and in the US will be able to read my essays – I’m excited about that. I wish to reconnect to my own bilingual roots; to acquire new readers that are not confined to Hebrew. I need to secure an escape route for my family; to painfully imagine not living the rest of my life at home, within the boundaries of Tel Aviv and of Hebrew.

A few more words about me:

I was born in Scotland in 1967 to my Parents – My Dad, Brian, a second generation Scottish lad, and my mom, Esther, who was born and raised in London during the war by her German parents. They both made a good home in Ramat Gan, a residential town near Tel Aviv, Israel, for me and my two brothers, whom I love. 

Since my early 40s I myself have made a home in Tel Aviv with my own beloved family: my partner Michal Rinott, our daughters Naomi and Yaeli and our aging dog Tusha.

Inspired by every great essayist since Montaigne I am constantly trying to figure out how to be – a writer, a woman, a domestic and love partner, a queer person, a mother of daughters, a mentor of writers, a dissident of Israel’s right-wing government, a mortal human being.

 

Any enlightening feedback will be appreciated at ocoussin@gmail.com

Orna Coussin, Tel Aviv. August 2023

 

שלום, כאן ארנה קזין, סופרת, מחברת של מסות ומנחה של כתיבה תיעודית ושל כתיבת ביקורת. תשעה מספרי ראו אור זה כבר.

בעמודים אלה תמצאו מסות שלמות וערוכות, טיוטות בעיצומו של תהליך, וגם תרגיל כתיבה באנגלית.

תוכלו למצוא פרטים נוספים עלי בבלוג שלי, שעוסק בכתיבה.

כל מחשבה שלכם, כל רעיון, פולמוס ושיחה יתקבלו בתודה.

ארנה קזין, ocoussin@gmail.com