The Man Who Sent Herzl to Africa: Alternate History, Self-Translation, and Time Clocks w/ Yoav Avni

Welcome back! We are back in action after a break of a few months and we have some exciting guests already lined up for the weeks ahead. My guest today is Yoav Avni, one of Israel's most inventive novelists. He's a two-time winner of the Geffen Award for speculative fiction, which is basically Israel's version of the Hugo, and his novel Three Things for a Desert Island was a national bestseller. If you love Kurt Vonnegut or Douglas Adams, his writing will feel like home. It's funny and a little magical, with a lot of heart underneath. And his latest novel, Time Clocks, is now out in English. Another of his books, Herzl Said, imagines a Jewish state that was built in Africa instead, after the Zionists said yes to the so-called Uganda Plan. So of course I had to ask him what Herzl would think if he got dropped into Tel Aviv today. We also get into what it's like to write in Israel right now, and Yoav lets us peek inside the mind of a writer, with some hard-won advice on the craft along the way. **BIO** Yoav Avni is an Israeli author, translator, editor, and writing mentor, born in 1969. His fiction includes novels and short stories. His novels have been published by two of Israel’s leading publishing houses, Kinneret Zmora Bitan and Keter. One of them, Three Things for a Desert Island, became a national bestseller, and he is a two-time winner of the Israeli Geffen Award for Best Speculative Novel, often regarded as Israel’s equivalent of the Hugo Award. His latest novel, Time Clocks, was published in Hebrew in December 2024 and will be published in English on September 29, 2026, by Roundfire Books in the UK and US. His novel Crossing a River Twice was first published in Hebrew in 2016 and is scheduled for English-language publication in the UK and the United States in 2027. Some of his short stories have been published in N-Zine (London), Words Without Borders, JewishFiction.net, and Jewcy. His writing blends magic realism and speculative fiction with humor, emotional warmth, and a deep curiosity about human nature, drawing inspiration from authors such as Tom Robbins, Kurt Vonnegut, Jerome K. Jerome, Gerald Durrell, and Douglas Adams. Website: https://yoavavni.com/english.php Email: yoav.avni@gmail.com **Episode Sponsor**: Eva's Used Books Looking for your next great read? Eva's Used Books is Israel's friendly online English bookstore, with over 20,000 used books in stock. Whether you're into mysteries, thrillers, fantasy, historical fiction, or Judaism-themed books, there's always something new to discover. Shipping is available throughout Israel, and orders over 150 shekels ship free. Visit evasusedbooks.co and use code SHABABOOSH for 10% off your first order.