Journeys & arrivals

the long version

In Journeys & Arrivals prize-winning author Lev Raphael explores for the first time in non-fiction the gay and Jewish identities that have dominated his highly acclaimed fiction for many years. Journeys & Arrivals reveals in a collection of autobiographical and critical essays the influence these often conflicting identities of being gay and Jewish have had in his life and his writing. The child of Holocaust survivors, Raphael came to his positive Jewish identity late in life and his gay identity even later. He describes growing up in a secular family, discovering a Jewish community, early sexual exploration, the turning point that came with writing his first autobiographical story, and life with his partner and his partner's sons. Other pieces report on gay literature, gays and lesbians in Israel, and the legacy of the Holocaust for both Jews and gays. Throughout, Raphael confronts with unflinching honesty the difficulties and rewards of laying claim to both a gay and a Jewish identity.