Mazya, Edna 1949-

PERSONAL:

Born 1949, in Tel Aviv, Israel. Education: Tel Aviv University, M.A.

CAREER:

Writer, director, and playwright.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Margalit Prize, 1997, for Family Story; Best Playwright of the Year (Israel), 1998, for The Rebels.

WRITINGS:

Mishakim ba-hatser ha-ahorit, Oram (Tel Aviv, Israel), 1993.

Games in the Backyard (play), produced in Haifa, Israel, 1993.

Wien by the Sea (play), produced in Haifa, Israel, 1995.

The Uncle for Capetown (play), produced in Haifa, Israel, 1995.

Hitpartsut (novel; title means "An X-Ray Burst"), ha-Kibuts ha-meuhad (Tel Aviv, Israel), 1997, published as Love Burns, Europa (New York, NY), 2006.

Sipur mishpahti: mahazeh bi-shete maarakhot, (play; title means "The Family Story"), Oram (Tel Aviv, Israel), 1997.

Fair Game, Faber & Faber (Boston, MA), 1997.

Ha-Mordim: mahazeh bi-shete maarakhot, (play; title means "The Rebels"; produced in Cameri, Tel Aviv, 1999), Oram (Tel Aviv, Israel), 1999.

Herod (play), produced at the Cameri Theatre in Tel Aviv, Israel, 2000.

Roman mishpahti (novel; title means "The Unsatisfied"), Keshet (Tel Aviv, Israel), 2005.

Mazya's works have been translated into English, French, German, and Italian.

SIDELIGHTS:

Edna Mazya is an Israeli playwright and novelist. Her first novel, Hitpartsut ("An X-Ray Burst"), was published in English as Love Burns. The story revolves around an astrophysics professor named Ilan, who murders his young wife's lover. Ilan turns to his mother for help, and the two dispose of the body in the grave of Ilan's former kindergarten teacher. When the body is discovered, however, Ilan's terminally ill mother commits suicide and claims in a note that she murdered her daughter-in-law's lover. Booklist critic Allison Block observed that the author "renders complex characters and clever dialogue" in the novel. A Publishers Weekly contributor described it as "surprisingly fresh, deeply sardonic." Library Journal contributor Molly Abramowitz wrote that the book should appeal "to readers of black humor and psychological thrillers."

Despite the success of her first novel, Mazya is known primarily as a playwright in Israel. Among her plays is Herod, which is based on the biblical king. Referring to the play as "a biography about politics and love," Theatre Journal contributor Glenda Frank called Herod "an ironic portrait of a man who secured power by destroying his family and suffered psychosomatic torments caused by paranoia and guilt."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 15, 2006, Allison Block, review of Love Burns, p. 45.

Kirkus Review, February 1, 2006, review of Love Burns, p. 104.

Library Journal, February 15, 2006, Molly Abramowitz, review of Love Burns, p. 108.

Publishers Weekly, January 16, 2006, review of Love Burns, p. 38.

Theatre Journal, May, 2001, Glenda Frank, review of Herod, pp. 335-337.

ONLINE

Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature Web site,http://www.ithl.org.il/ (July 10, 2006), brief profile of the author.

[Sketch reviewed by agent, Pat Dimet.]