The Bar Sagi Award for Creative Writing
Biography of Bar Sagi
Bar Sagi was born in Rehovot, Israel, in 2001. She spent five years of her childhood in Menlo Park, California, discovering a passion for creative writing in English. A gifted wordsmith, Bar wrote many poems, novels, and short stories, which can be found in books released by her family, including See Me Soar and Spread My Wings (Gvanim, 2018), Yasmin’s Beginning: Dreamworld I (Amazon, 2019), and Back to Atlantis (Amazon, 2021). In December 2012, Bar was diagnosed with bone cancer, which took her life tragically in February 2017. The writing that Bar left behind displays honesty, compassion, and wisdom far beyond her years. In poems about family, friendships, illness, and growing up, Bar depicts joyful experiences, “I want my life to be / full of energy / with sparks / like lightning strikes,” as well as sorrowful ones, “My wings are bloodied and torn / My heart and body so worn / And I’m falling from the sky.” Bar’s writing shows a keen awareness of how poetry can express the inexpressible. The voice that shines through Bar’s words is a gift to anyone searching for a place of empathy, in short, all readers.
Selections of Bar Sagi’s Writing
Several of Bar’s poems can be found on the website for The Ministry of Education in Israel:
https://pop.education.gov.il/tchumey_daat/english/chativat-beynayim/study_topics/literature/
Books on Amazon
Bar’s young adult fantasy novel, Yasmin’s Beginning: Dreamworld I
https://www.amazon.com/Bar-Sagi/e/B07NSKPDDZ?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_9&qid=1580383007&sr=1-9
Back to Atlantis
https://www.amazon.com/Bar-Sagi/e/B07NSKPDDZ%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
Other Videos in Memory of Bar Sagi
Echoes of Bar – “Journey”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3pT57mwjJ8&feature=youtu.be
Echoes of Bar – “Hope”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHZ2j16Q44A
Echoes of Bar – “Teenager”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeEiVou3tCc&feature=youtu.be
Bar Sagi Award Description
The Department of English and American Studies at Tel Aviv University is honored to invite submissions for The Bar Sagi Award for Creative Writing. This award, established in 2020 by the family of Bar Sagi in her name, will recognize original works of fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry that reflect the essence of Bar’s voice, as well as the themes, images, and forms of her writing. In the poem “Just Me,” Bar writes, “I want my life to be / full of energy / with sparks / like lightning strikes.” The winning works will likewise convey creativity, emotional depth, and attention to craft, at the heart of Bar’s writing. Ideally, the winning work (or works) will fulfill what Bar already achieved – illuminating the painful and joyous aspects of life, using evocative, imaginative language. Finally, the winning submission will convey the richness of the human experience, a mission at the core of Bar’s legacy.
