Bar Sagi: The late Israeli teen poet who died of bone cancer

Bar Sagi was a young Israeli poet who wrote in English and died in 2017 from cancer at age 15. Her family established the Bar Sagi Young Poets Prize in her memory, five years ago this month. 

She was posthumously recognized by the Israeli Education Ministry when six of her poems were selected to be taught in Israeli schools. Born in Rehovot, in 2001, from age five to 11 Bar lived in Menlo Park, California, where English became her preferred language and where she discovered a passion and talent for creative writing. 

Tragically, upon her return to Israel, she was diagnosed with bone cancer, and after a courageous and protracted battle of over four years, Bar succumbed in 2017 before her 16th birthday. 

During her last years, Bar wrote 25 poems documenting her journey, her illness, and her remarkable life force. This collection was published posthumously as See Me Soar and Spread My Wings. A few of the poems are resplendent with anticipated pleasure; others reflect the growth pangs of an ordinary teenager; while most are a vivid personal account of the ravages of the terrifying disease. Yet all are suffused with hope, a determination to live life to the fullest, and a firm belief in reincarnation.

In poems about family, friendships, illness, and growing up, Bar depicts joyful experiences. 

In “Just Me,” she writes: “I want my life to be/full of energy/with sparks/like lightning strikes.” 

There are sorrowful ones too: “My wings are bloodied and torn/My heart and body so worn/And I’m falling from the sky.” 

Prof. Carlos Cardas, a leading oncologist at Cambridge University, considers See Me Soar to be “mandatory reading for any aspiring cancer doctor.”  

A counselor in the Druze sector said: “I have to say that I always tell my students Bar’s story and how emotional it is for me and how despite her short journey in life, she left a great impact on Israeli society.”

English teacher Itar Mansour of Osifiah stated, “On behalf of my class, thank you for sharing with us the beautiful breathtaking poems of Bar Sagi.”

The poems, illustrated by watercolorings by Bar herself; family friend Ellie Makar-Limanov; and Prof. Anna Melnikov, reflect the poet’s multi-faceted character and unusually mature understanding. 

Four of her poems have been set to music by composer Lior Soltz and interpreted by Tzlil Rubenstein, “Echoes of Bar,” “Journey,” “Hope,” “Teenage Girl,” and “Just Me” and are posted on YouTube. 

Bar also wrote short stories and even some novels. During the 2022 London Book Week presentation of her book Back to Atlantis, RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) graduate Elizabeth Hollingshead gave a dramatic reading of some of Bar’s works, available at vimeo.com/690928447/72eadc0185.

Bar Sagi on the Israel Education Ministry website: pop.education.gov.il/tchumey_daat/english/chativat-beynayim/study_topics/literature/ ■

The fifth annual Bar Sagi Young Poets Prize-Voices Israel awards

With the English-language poetry competition for young adults now in its fifth year, the Bar Sagi Young Poets Prize 2024-Voices Israel was awarded on April 14. 

The first prize went to Talia Rabah, 16, from Kisra-Smea in Upper Galilee (a Druze community with a small Christian minority); the second to Hadar Yadin, 15, from Gedera; and a joint third prize went to Almog Kobi, 16, from Tirat Hacarmel and to Lotem Shperling from Kibbutz Megiddo (Jezreel Valley). The winners received cash prizes of NIS 400; NIS 250; and NIS 100 each, respectively.

The judges also awarded honorable mentions to Neomi Bechor from Gedera and Naya Abu Hameed from Kisra-Smea. 

Bar Sagi’s grandfather, Anthony Joseph, told The Jerusalem Post, “She would say that Israel is a magical country and Rehovot a magical town. Bar would say that when you open a book you enter into a strange and wonderful world. This belief inspired her to compose her own dazzling poems and tales.”

Bar’s family decided to endow a prize in her name, partnering with Voices Israel in an initiative to encourage the voices of young, English-language poets in Israel. The Bar Sagi Young Poets Prize was inaugurated in 2019. The competition is free to enter.

While the Young Poets Prize was the first literary prize commemorating Bar Sagi, it is not the only one. Three additional Bar Sagi prizes have since been added: the Bar Sagi Prize for English Literature at Tel Aviv University, the Bar Sagi Fiction Prize at Bar-Ilan University; and the Bar-Ilan Young Poets Prize for students,  aimed at schoolchildren in the United Kingdom and United States, and established in 2022.

The Department of English and American Studies at Tel Aviv University invites submissions for The Bar Sagi Award for Creative Writing of 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. Ideally, the winning work (or works) will illuminate the painful and joyous aspects of life, using evocative, imaginative language to convey the richness and emotional depth of the human experience, at the core of Bar’s writing and legacy.

First Prize: Harmony of Silence

First prize: Talya Rabah

Harmony of Silence

“Dancing among the letters of language, Swirling like dreamy aspirations. 

In the realm of silence, a poem is born From interwoven threads of deep emotion, Flowing like the meandering rivers, 

Planting hope in the soil of the heart. 

Pens dance on the strings of paper, 

Scripting the meanings of love and pain, Scattering the fragrance of words, 

Like flowers falling from above the sky. 

In the maze of life, we find ourselves, 

Lost in the horizons of dreams and consciousness, Yet within the folds of words 

The sun of understanding and awareness rises. 

Let’s dance together in the circle of moments And dive into the sea of emotions and sensations To write a poem known only to the heart That remains immortal in the spirit of time.”

Second Prize Bar Sagi Young Adults

Even someone you didn’t know still thinks about you

By HADAR YALIN

“When I was told about you 

I pictured you  

standing at the height of the birds 

and you saw god 

with an open field below you 

and you were confident in your decision 

to leave it all behind 

I wonder what you thought, 

taking your last breath 

if you knew pain distorts beauty 

and thought 

deep sleep 

would be better 

I think you saved my life 

thanks to you  

I know what grief I’d leave behind 

maybe you’re looking at me from above 

and despise me 

you prevented me from putting my head in the noose which would have killed me 

And when I saw a picture of you and my mother I thought what a shame 

you didn’t get to see the future 

you wouldn’t know what we earned 

and what you chose to lose.”