Was It Good, or Was It Bad? : Yael Neeman in Conversation with Bilha Ben-Eliyahu

Among Israel’s most revered and beloved contemporary writers, Yael Neeman is known for her literary explorations of memory and identity, and her distinctive blending of fiction and documentary styles. Born and raised on Kibbutz Yehiam, Neeman’s debut novel, We Were the Future (Ahuzat Bayit, 2011), reflects on her childhood in the kibbutz and offers a sharp examination of the ideals and costs of the communal lifestyle. The book was met with widespread praise and translated into multiple languages.

Neeman’s new book, Was it Good, or Was it Bad? (Ahuzat Bayit, 2024), continues this exploration in a unique pseudo-documentary form. At its center is former kibbutznik Nachshon Goltz, who filed a civil lawsuit claiming emotional damages inflicted – so he alleges – by the communal child-rearing system. Through his story, Neeman offers a nuanced and poignant look at the kibbutz as both vision and failure, tracing the emotional imprints it left on the generations raised within it.

In conversation with literary scholar Bilha Ben-Eliyahu, Neeman will discuss kibbutz legacy and identity through cultural and social lenses, exploring the duality of home and absence, family and estrangement.