Keter Publishing House
Encyclopedia
Keter Publishing House is one of the largest publishers
in Israel
. It was formed in 2005 through a merger of Keter Publishing ( Keter Hotsa'a La'or) and Steimatzky
. Keter has a large book marketing and distribution network, as well print services and book production for the Israeli domestic and export market. Keter is the most prominent publisher of contemporary Hebrew literature
in Israel. Keter also published the first edition of the Encyclopedia Judaica and is a co-publisher of the Junior Britannica.
. The company initially foscused on the translation and publishing of scientific and technical manuscripts from Russian
into English
, mostly for the National Science Foundation
of the United States
.
During the 1960s the company expanded its publishing activities into English under the names "Israel Universities Press" (IUP) and "Keter Books". The government sold the company to Meniv Israel Investment Company in 1966 and in 1969 was sold again to Clal Israel, which renamed the company to Keter Publishing House. The company then focused on expanding publishing Judaica and Israel titles for exporting, publishing the acquired Encyclopedia Judaica, and created a printing and bindery division called Keterpress Enterprises.
In 1987 Keter went public. For a time controlling interest
was held by Robert Maxwell
though Macmillan
, and then by Arledan, a Jerusalem based investment company. In 2005 Keter and the Steimatzky merged to form "Keter Books."
Keter has published many translated works including those of:
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. It was formed in 2005 through a merger of Keter Publishing ( Keter Hotsa'a La'or) and Steimatzky
Steimatzky
Steimatzky , is the oldest and largest bookstore chain in Israel, founded by Yechezkel Steimatzky in 1925.-Early history:The first store opened in 1925 on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem by Yechezkel Steimatzky a Russian-born immigrant from Germany...
. Keter has a large book marketing and distribution network, as well print services and book production for the Israeli domestic and export market. Keter is the most prominent publisher of contemporary Hebrew literature
Israeli literature
Israeli literature is literature written in the State of Israel by Israelis. Most works classed as Israeli literature are written in the Hebrew language, although some Israeli authors write in Yiddish, English, Arabic and Russian...
in Israel. Keter also published the first edition of the Encyclopedia Judaica and is a co-publisher of the Junior Britannica.
History
Founded in Jerusalem, the company started in 1959 as a government owned company. Originally named the The Israel Program for Scientific Translations (IPST), it was created at the initiative of longtime Jerusalem mayor Teddy KollekTeddy Kollek
Theodor "Teddy" Kollek was mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 1973, 1978, 1983 and 1989...
. The company initially foscused on the translation and publishing of scientific and technical manuscripts from Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, mostly for the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
During the 1960s the company expanded its publishing activities into English under the names "Israel Universities Press" (IUP) and "Keter Books". The government sold the company to Meniv Israel Investment Company in 1966 and in 1969 was sold again to Clal Israel, which renamed the company to Keter Publishing House. The company then focused on expanding publishing Judaica and Israel titles for exporting, publishing the acquired Encyclopedia Judaica, and created a printing and bindery division called Keterpress Enterprises.
In 1987 Keter went public. For a time controlling interest
Controlling interest
Controlling interest in a corporation means to have control of a large enough block of voting stock shares in a company such that no one stock holder or coalition of stock holders can successfully oppose a motion...
was held by Robert Maxwell
Robert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell MC was a Czechoslovakian-born British media proprietor and former Member of Parliament , who rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire...
though Macmillan
Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately held international publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than thirty others.-History:...
, and then by Arledan, a Jerusalem based investment company. In 2005 Keter and the Steimatzky merged to form "Keter Books."
Authors
Keter has published the works of many well known contemporary Israeli authors:- Appelfeld
- Amos OzAmos OzAmos Oz is an Israeli writer, novelist, and journalist. He is also a professor of literature at Ben-Gurion University in Be'er Sheva....
- Alona KimhiAlona KimhiAlona Kimhi is an Israeli author and actress.- Biography :Alona Kimhi was born in Lvov, Ukraine , in 1966 and emigrated to Israel with her family in 1972. Following her graduation from the Beit Zvi Academy for Performing Arts, she became a stage and film actress. In 1993, Kimhi started writing...
- Sayed KashuaSayed KashuaSayed Kashua is an Israeli Arab author and journalist born in Tira, Israel, known for his books and humoristic columns in Hebrew.-Biography:...
- Savyon LiebrechtSavyon LiebrechtSavyon Liebrecht is one of Israel's best-known authors, although less known outside Israel. Born as the oldest child in Munich, Germany to Polish Holocaust survivors as Sabine Sosnowski, she moved to Israel in 1950....
- Uri OrlevUri OrlevUri Orlev is an award-winning Israeli children's author and translator of Polish-Jewish origin.-Biography:Uri Orlev, born Jerzy Henryk Orlowski, was born in Warsaw, Poland. He survived the war years in the Warsaw Ghetto and the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where he was sent to after his...
- Zeruya ShalevZeruya ShalevZeruya Shalev is a bestselling Israeli author.Zeruya Shalev was born on Kibbutz Kinneret. She has an MA in Bible studies and works as a literary editor at Keshet publishing house...
Keter has published many translated works including those of:
- Douglas AdamsDouglas AdamsDouglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
- Paul AusterPaul AusterPaul Benjamin Auster is an American author known for works blending absurdism, existentialism, crime fiction and the search for identity and personal meaning in works such as The New York Trilogy , Moon Palace , The Music of Chance , The Book of Illusions and The Brooklyn Follies...
- Paolo Coelho
- Sándor MáraiSándor MáraiSándor Márai was a Hungarian writer and journalist.-Biography:...
- Haruki MurakamiHaruki Murakamiis a Japanese writer and translator. His works of fiction and non-fiction have garnered him critical acclaim and numerous awards, including the Franz Kafka Prize and Jerusalem Prize among others.He is considered an important figure in postmodern literature...
- Boris PasternakBoris PasternakBoris Leonidovich Pasternak was a Russian language poet, novelist, and literary translator. In his native Russia, Pasternak's anthology My Sister Life, is one of the most influential collections ever published in the Russian language...
- Philip PullmanPhilip PullmanPhilip Pullman CBE, FRSL is an English writer from Norwich. He is the best-selling author of several books, most notably his trilogy of fantasy novels, His Dark Materials, and his fictionalised biography of Jesus, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ...
- Salman Rushdie
- W.G. Sebald
- Susan SontagSusan SontagSusan Sontag was an American author, literary theorist, feminist and political activist whose works include On Photography and Against Interpretation.-Life:...
- Donna TarttDonna TarttDonna Tartt is an American writer and author of the novels The Secret History and The Little Friend . She won the WH Smith Literary Award for The Little Friend in 2003.-Early life:...
- Mario Vargas LlosaMario Vargas LlosaJorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquis of Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian-Spanish writer, politician, journalist, essayist, and Nobel Prize laureate. Vargas Llosa is one of Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists, and one of the leading authors of his generation...