Amichai Speaks at Hillel

Poetry must be useful. So internationally renowned poet Yehuda Amichai told an audience of approximately 100 Harvard students and Cambridge residents last night.

Amichai, an award-winning author, made his poetry useful at the Riesman Center at Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel, speaking on "The Soul of the Poet." He called himself "the first post-cynical humorist."

Reading poems and telling droll tales, Amichai discussed Jews, war, Jerusalem, love, family and history.

A veteran of World War II and of the 1948 and 1956 Arab-Israeli wars, Amichai spoke about his wartime experiences. He read poems from his new book, Every Fist Was Once An Open Palm With Fingers.