Lali Tsipi Michaeli

Lali Tsipi Michaeli (Hebrew: ללי ציפי מיכאלי; born 1964) is an Israeli poet.

Her books have been translated and published in the United States, Russia, Georgia, France, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, Italy and India, among other countries.

Her poems were published in Iton 77, Moznaim, Efes Shtaim, Mosaic, Achshav, [4] Haaretz, Yedioth Ahronoth, Maariv, Sinn und Form,[5] Times of Israel [6] and Poetry International Web, [7] as well as in online literary journals and international anthologies.

I don’t like crybaby poetry… I don’t like gushy poetry; it’s pathetic.” [16] Prof. Admiel Kosman wrote in a review of her book "The Mad House" (הבית המשוגע) in Iton 77: “One of the strongest books I have come across in the field of poetry is Lali Tsipi Michaeli’s The Mad House.

The poems were not written willingly, but out of a force that drove the poet to write, and to me this is the strongest sign for quality poetry… In this intense book, the poet sings the song of the shaky house of anyone looking at their own life (in this sense, the “house” is a metaphor for the life by which each one of us is trying to create a permanent hold of reality), even after all they desired has been given to them and they are ostensibly very happy in all possible senses – with an eye that almost breaks at the sight of the viewer – popping the question on the reason for that existence and whatever exists or does not exist beyond it.” [17] Jonathan Berg diagnoses a new poetic language in Michaeli's poetry and writes in Walla!

The poems, collecting memories from various periods in the life of the father and thoughts of the daughter after his death, create a harsh picture of inconsolable loss… The whole book is written in this tone, the tone of a direct appeal to the dead father, to make him know what his living daughter is undergoing… This is a touching book, in which every poem seeks to be the final farewell to Papa, while becoming yet another expression of the dire need to still have him around.” [19] In 2011 she self-published the protest anthology Resistance (התנגדות) comprising poetry of 22 living and dead poets.

When they are outside life, to a great extent, they endanger their very existence.” [21] 'My Mom', a poem by Michaeli, was launched to the moon in a time capsule in February 2024 as part of NASA's LUNAR CODEX.