Hamutal Bar-Yosef (Ph.D, Hebrew University) is Professor of Hebrew literature at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Bar-Yosef has published nine collections of poetry as well as six academic books and many articles on Hebrew literature in its European context. She translates poetry from English, French and Russian. Bar-Yosef has received the ACUM Prize (1987), the President`s Prize (2002), the Brenner Prize (2005), and other awards for her poetry. Her publications include Trends of Decadence in Modern Hebrew Literature (Jerusalem 1997) and Symbolism in Modern Poetry (2000). She has also edited an anthology of Hebrew literature in Russian translations (RSUH, 2000).

"Professor Bar Yosef's monograph is the first comprehensive account of a major - though neglected - component of modern Hebrew literature, the impact of Kabbalistic and Hasidic themes. Their investigation is an important desideratum that is fulfilled here in an erudite and authoritative manner." --Professor Moshe Idel, Hebrew University, and Hartman Institute, Jerusalem