A Writer's Guide to Ramat Gan

Bar-Ilan's library site says visitors from outside the university may enter its libraries without restriction. Borrowing and the databases are for the Bar-Ilan community, though readers from other Israeli universities can get a visitor reader card. The English and Literature Library is in Building 404, and the special collections include Ladino and Prussian Jewry. The library site is in English as well as Hebrew.

Shenkar's library serves a college of design, art, fashion and engineering in Ramat Gan. Individuals can buy an annual personal subscription, which covers book loans and access to the fashion forecasts. Student projects and periodicals stay in the library. The reference rooms are silent. It is closed Fridays and Saturdays.

Beit Ariela is the main library of the Tel Aviv-Yafo network, about 3 to 4 km west of central Ramat Gan. The library counts its poetry library among the largest poetry collections in Israel, and poetry discussion evenings meet there. The reference hall holds Hebrew and English reference books. Most services run in Hebrew. Registration is free for Tel Aviv residents, and others pay a fee.

The Hebrew Writers Association founded Gnazim in 1951 to hold the papers of modern Hebrew literature, from the Haskalah to today. Leah Goldberg and Yosef Haim Brenner are among the writers whose manuscripts and letters are kept here. The materials are mainly in Hebrew. Visits are Sunday to Thursday, by appointment.

Sourasky is Tel Aviv University's humanities and arts library, about 6 km northwest of central Ramat Gan, with its collections on open shelves. Entry is free to the public. Borrowing takes a paid library subscription. The nearest campus gates are on Klausner and Klatskin Streets.

Malka and Yehoshua Ben Porat opened Porat Books in 1953. The shop calls itself the largest private bookstore in Israel. It sells new and used books, rare ones among them, along with copies signed by their authors and an English literature section. Most of the stock is in Hebrew. Open Sunday to Friday.

Bookhaus sells only English-language books, from a renovated Bauhaus building in north Tel Aviv. Michal Goldschmidt, a former curator at Tate Britain and the Barbican, opened it in 2026. It runs book clubs and has hosted author events.

HaMigdalor opened in central Tel Aviv in 2010. It stocks books from many independent publishers and tracks down used and hard-to-find books. Memoirists should look at its workshops in memoir and the personal essay. The shop works mainly in Hebrew.

Sipur Pashut has been open in Neve Tzedek since 2003. Its shelves lean toward original and translated fiction and poetry, with literary theory and an English-books section, though most stock is Hebrew. Upstairs, the gallery has a couch for reading. The shop holds monthly readings and runs writing workshops.

Tola'at Sfarim is a bookstore and café on Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, with its own publishing list strong in psychoanalysis and psychology. The stock is mainly Hebrew, and there is an English section. It hosts book launches and study days. Open Sunday to Friday.

Every Bar-Ilan campus library except Engineering has study seating, and visitors from outside the university may come in. Forgot headphones? The libraries sell them. Hours vary by library and follow the academic calendar, so check the library's own page before you go.

The central library's sound-isolated study rooms seat up to six people and have outlets and Wi-Fi. Book online, up to a week ahead and one slot a day; sessions run up to three hours. The booking pages are in Hebrew. The library is open seven days a week.

Liebling Haus, home of the White City Center in Tel Aviv, houses the free Liebling Library. Its books are read on site. The building is open every day of the week.

Two writers named Tachtit on a Time Out Tel Aviv list of cafés writers love. It is near Sarona, about 3 km west of central Ramat Gan. Doors open early in the morning.

The museum's Studio Café overlooks the Sculpture Garden and serves cakes and light meals. Pastel, a fine-dining restaurant with a terrace and bar, sits at the other end of the garden. Both are next door to Beit Ariela. The museum is closed Sundays.

Asif runs a café and deli in its culinary culture center in Tel Aviv. The center also keeps a library documenting local food culture, with an herb farm on the roof. A writer put it on a Time Out Tel Aviv list of cafés writers love. It closes on Saturdays.

Lev Café fills the former Mayer family apartment inside Liebling Haus. The room is intimate. It opens daily, so an afternoon in the Liebling Library can end with coffee in the same building.

Bar-Ilan's Department of English Literature and Linguistics runs this English-language program in Ramat Gan. Applicants need a BA or equivalent, and students come from Israel and abroad for the two-year MA in English literature. Tracks include fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction and literary translation. Every two years the program holds a conference that is free and open to the public, with contemporary writers from around the world.

The IAWE, founded in 1980, brings together established creative writers in Israel who work in English. It publishes the literary journal arc and the newszine aChord. Its Zoom sessions with literary guests go up on YouTube. A mailing list announces programs.

The Hebrew Writers Association brings together some 500 Hebrew writers and literary scholars at Beit HaSofer in Tel Aviv, where it holds book launches and reading evenings. It publishes the bimonthly literary magazine Moznaim and runs the Gnazim Archive. It works mainly in Hebrew.

The Tel Aviv home of the poet Hayim Nahman Bialik is now a museum and archive holding his manuscripts and speeches. It offers guided tours and literary events, along with a Zoom series and a podcast. Programs are mainly in Hebrew.

The Institute publishes catalogues of Hebrew books for adult and young readers, and it offers grants for translating Hebrew literature. Its website keeps a directory of Hebrew writers and their books.

The Porter Institute is a research institute in Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Humanities. It is the editorial home of Poetics Today, which Duke University Press publishes. In Hebrew it publishes the book series Literature, Meaning, Culture, and it holds events.

Fulbright Israel runs Fulbright exchanges between the United States and Israel from its Tel Aviv office. American academics can apply for Distinguished Scholar awards and postdoctoral fellowships at Israeli institutions, or for open study and research grants. It also runs the Fulbright Specialist Program.

Bar-Ilan University Press publishes peer-reviewed books and journals of original research and essays. Its emphasis is Jewish studies, the humanities and the social sciences. Its books are distributed in Israel and internationally.

Am Oved has published books since 1942. Its list runs from literary fiction and poetry to children's books, with nonfiction in history and psychology. It also publishes the literary journal Alpayim. The press is in Bnei Brak, which borders Ramat Gan.

Hakibbutz Hameuchad - Sifriat Poalim is a literary publisher of Hebrew fiction and poetry, both original and in translation. Its nonfiction runs from philosophy and Jewish thought to Holocaust studies. It also publishes for children and young adults. Its offices are in Bnei Brak.

The Journal of Educational Administration is a refereed international journal of educational leadership and management. It publishes research from diverse political and socio-cultural contexts. One of its two editors-in-chief is at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan. Preparing an article for Journal of Educational Administration

Voices Israel Group of Poets in English runs the Reuben Rose Poetry Competition each year. Members and non-members living anywhere may enter. Three independent judges choose the winners and honorable mentions, which appear in the group's anthology and on its website.

The Brenner Prize is a literary prize. Its patron is the Hebrew Writers Association in Israel, based at Beit HaSofer in Tel Aviv.

This award sends an Israeli writer or literary translator with substantial recent published work to the University of Iowa's International Writing Program for a three-month residency. It covers a living allowance, lodging and travel. Applicants must be Israeli citizens who live in Israel, and their English must be good enough for the residency.

Tel Aviv University students can start here for grants and writing resources.

Hamelaha is a screen printing workshop and study center in south Tel Aviv that prints to order on paper and textiles. Artists with screen printing experience can rent stands and equipment in its open workshop, and beginners can take a course. The website has an English version. Open Sunday to Thursday, and Fridays by appointment.