Amir Or was born in 1956 is the author of eight volumes of poetry. His latest book in Hebrew, The Song of Tahira is a fictional epic in metered prose. His forthcoming book The Museum of Time was written in both Hebrew and English and is about to be published in Israel and the UK.

Or's poems have been published in more than 30 languages, including four books in English translation, as well as books in Arabic, Macedonian, Serbian, Polish and Romanian: Miracle (Poetry Ireland, Dublin 1998), Language Says (Poetry Miscellaneous, US, 2001), Poem (Dedalus 2004, Romanian edition by Editura Vinea and Polish edition by Portret, 2006) and Day (Dedalus 2006). Other books of his in translation are: Poetry is a Criminal Girl (Arabic, Faradis, Paris 1995) and Drowning, He Breaths Living Water (Macedonian, The Pleiades Series of Struga Poetry Festival, 2000).

Or has been a guest writer at several cultural institutions and is also a teacher, translator, and editor.  Or studied philosophy and Comparative Religion at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he later lectured on Ancient Greek Religion.

Or has published articles on poetry, classic studies and religious studies, and has taught poetry and creative writing in universities in Israel, the UK, and Japan. In 1990 he founded Helicon, the Society for the Advancement of Poetry, and in 1993 he set up the Arabic-Hebrew Helicon Poetry School.  He developed the school’s pioneering integrated methodologies in a series of subjects.