An Israeli poet on a peace mission in the conflict zone 

Amir Or, poet and founder of the Helicon Society, discusses the power of art and literature in promoting peace and understanding.

“You need to create your peace to write amidst the conflicts. I have been trying to create peace through creative dialogues,” says Amir Or, poet, novelist and essayist from Israel and coordinator of the UN-supported project ‘Poets for Peace.’

Speaking on the sidelines of the International Literature Festival of Kerala (ILFK) in Thrissur on Tuesday, he said art and literature could function as powerful reminders to the world that love had the power to conquer hate and wars.

Mr. Or, founder of the Helicon Society established for the welfare of Israeli poetry, formed an Arabic-Hebrew Helicon Poetry school for encouraging people writing Arabic and Hebrew poetry. The school was an experiment to build a bridge between realities on both sides. He trained many youngsters and encouraged Jewish and Arabic poets to translate each other’s works.

“To translate someone’s work you need to hear his/her story. The school was a platform for mutual dialogue. We worked together, watched the beauty of nature together, and started knowing each other.”

Mr. Or’s writing is rich in mystery, myth, and rural culture. Along with human relationships, his works discuss different facets of history and culture. Human life, uniquely intertwined with time, has been the characteristic of his poems.

A great admirer of classics — Greek, Latin and Indian — he has translated stories from the Mahabharat to Hebrew. “India’s cultural richness has always exited me. The essence of each country remains in the literature written in its own language. India is traditionally rich in cultural diversity.“

As a poet coming from the conflict zone, Mr. Or said: “For me spirituality is an individual search. If one can’t respect the religion of others, it is not a religion but an oppressive power. Over the years of conflicts, the fanatics and the extremists get stronger. The more the people fear, the stronger they become.”