The novelist and translator Tsipi Keller was born in Prague, raised in Israel, and has been living in the United States since 1974. Currently, she lives in West Palm Beach, Florida. Keller's short fiction, and her poetry translations, have appeared in many journals and anthologies; her novels, The Prophet of Tenth Street (1995) and Leverage (1997) were translated into Hebrew and published by Sifriat Poalim. The Prophet of Tenth Street is due to be translated into German.

Keller's translation of Dan Pagis's posthumous collection, Last Poems, was published by The Quarterly Review of Literature (1993), and her translation of Irit Katzir's posthumous collection, And I Wrote Poems, was published by Carmel (2000). Poets on the Edge (2008), an anthology of contemporary Hebrew poetry, which she edited and translated, was was recognized as a true masterpiece. In November 2008 appears her translation of Maya Bejerano's work under the title The Hymns of Job and Other Poems. It is the first collection of Bejerano’s poetry to be published in English. Among Keller's awards are: A National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, two New York Foundation for the Arts grants, and an Armand G. Erpf award from Columbia University.

Keller is working on a new novel, Lucky Eve, in which she touches upon the story of her parents, Holocaust survivors, who had to start life over several times.

“WHEN MONEY is a given, when your spirit is unencumbered and your mind free of relentless and demeaning bookkeeping, how easy it is to have style. How easy to acquire taste when your resources are limitless, when you come from a home where luxury is perceived as absolute necessity, very much like fresh air."

So begins Tsipi Keller's new novel, Jackpot, published in October, 2004 by Spuyten Duyvil, a literary press based in Brooklyn, NY.

Jackpot is part of a trilogy; the second novel in the trilogy, The Retelling, was published by Spuyten Duyvil in 2006. The third, Elsa, will appear in 2007. In all three novels, the protagonist, a woman, finds herself in a bad situation, which, for the most part, she brought on herself.

Jackpot received quite a few positive reviews, and some of the reviewers have compared the novel with the work of Jean Rhys and Kate Chopin. Most of the reviews are available on line - please see the links below.

In the words of Publisher’s Weekly: "A Bahamian vacation turns into a nightmarish dreamworld in Tsipi Keller's smart, sly Jackpot...Keller expertly charts Maggie's transformation in this accomplished and oddly gripping novel." (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.) Retelling moves back and forth in time through the memories of Sally, who is suspected of having something to do with the death of her friend, the beautiful and pregnant Elsbeth. "This opaque yet beguiling novel showcases the work of a talented and original writer." (Publishers Weekly, July 2006.)

For more information and reviews: Bookreporter; Brooklyn Rail (October 2004, please scroll down the page to "Fiction") ; Lection (5 December, 2004) ; The Agony Column Book Reviews and Commentary (06-15-05) ; Book Coolie (July 20, 2005) ; Blogcritics.org (June 23, 2005) ; Paper Frigate (June 22, 2005) ; PublishersMarketplace (July 20, 2005) ; Courier-Journal.com (July 17, 2005) ; The Tsipi Keller Book Blog (July 14, 2005) ; The Hymns of Job and Other Poems ; Scripter.net -

Selected works:

• translator: Last Poems by Dan Pagis, 1993
• translator: And I Wrote Poems by Irit Katzir, 2000
• The Prophet of Tenth Street, 1995
• Leverage, 1997
• Jackpot, 2004
• Retelling, 2006
• ed. and transl.: Poets on the Edge: An Anthology of Contemporary Hebrew Poetry, 2008
• translator: The Hymns of Job and other Poems, 2008 (poems by Maya Bejerano)