NCJSS Welcomes Tamar Hess

The North Carolina Jewish Studies Seminar welcomes Tamar Hess, senior lecturer and chair of the Department of Hebrew Literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her scholarship focuses on modern and contemporary Hebrew poetry and prose, feminist literary criticism, and the cultural politics of autobiography. She is the author of Self as Nation: Contemporary Hebrew Autobiography (Brandeis University Press), a groundbreaking study of how personal narratives shape and reflect national identity. She also co-edited Papers on Dahlia Ravikovitch, a critical volume on one of Israel's most influential poets.

Dr. Hess's research engages literature within historical, social, and ethnic contexts, with particular attention to gender-conscious readings. She has served on the editorial board of Prooftexts and chaired the Agnon Prize in Hebrew Fiction committee. Her work continues to shape the field of Hebrew literary studies through both academic inquiry and public scholarship.