"Hebrew literature" is a big word, but to a large extent we are all its products.
Whether these are old works such as those by Bialik, Alterman, Rachel or Agnon or contemporary ones such as Noa Yadlin's books or Erez Bitton's poems, Hebrew literature creates and shapes us directly and indirectly.
These are the materials that inspire television, music and theater that we love, and that determine the language we use.
Books, whether they are non-fiction or fine literature, are the tools by which we as a culture examine ideas and ourselves.
But the writers and poets we like to be proud of are the tip of the iceberg of literary endeavor.
Despite the romantic (and cheap) image of a creator sitting alone in front of the keyboard, all he needs is a little inspiration and maybe a little alcohol, the reality is that a manuscript that comes from book publishing goes into the hands of some professionals, whose job is to turn the raw material into literary work.
These include vectors, which help in the process of selecting the works.
Editors who polish, tighten and improve the text, helping it find the right tone, pitch and structure, and proofread that it's their job to catch errors.
And all this in original works only.
Culture does not exist in a vacuum, and in order for us to enjoy the abundance that exists in world culture, another group of scholars, including translators and translation editors, commissioned to bring this selection to us, to Hebrew.
The world of Hebrew literature is in crisis.
The school people we mentioned work in the dark and are unfamiliar to the general public.
They do not even enjoy the meager institutional support enjoyed by writers and poets.
Most of them find themselves working as freelancers without social conditions, and their salaries are eroded consistently.
The usual employment structure in the field rewards translators and editors according to the number of words in the book, and this payment does not reflect seniority, experience or the special effort involved in working on complex texts.
Many good professionals find it difficult to make a living, retire from the literature market and move to work in other industries.
There are those who turn the pursuit of literature into side work, sometimes almost a hobby.
This situation leads to a delay in working on books, including sequels or works that have been published in other languages, and Hebrew readers are waiting for them.
Unfortunately, the low pay also hurts the quality of the work.
According to a survey conducted by the Association of Librarians, which unites about 120 of those involved in the field, the average monthly income of editors and veteran translators who work with well-known, well-established and prestigious expenses is about NIS 7,800 gross.
These are the editors and translators who have signed many of the books you have read in the last decades.
So what can be done to improve the situation?
Pay attention to a well-translated or edited book, and write for a publisher and compliment it (even through social media).
This is how we will encourage spending that invests in quality.
But it seems that there is no escape from the intervention of the state, and in particular the Ministry of Culture, by creating a dedicated fund to support literary work in Hebrew, similar to the support received by the Israeli Film Fund and financial support in the fields of theater and music.
Ohad Uziel is a writer and translator, author of the book "Tel Aviv-Heaven-Hell"
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