Roy Arad

Roy Chicky Arad was born in 1977 and grew up in Beersheba.[1][2] By 2003, he was living and working in Tel Aviv, where he pursued writing, music, and editorial work.[3]

Arad's first book, The Negro, was published by Shidourian in 2000.[3] His second book, Aerobics, followed in 2003 in a 139-page edition from the same publisher.[3] Aerobics centers on a day in the life of aerobics instructor Jackie Kazan, characterized in the contemporary press as the embodiment of "pure megalomania" in a desirable male body.[3]

Arad also co-curated an exhibition with artist Rafael Hadad, whom the Ynet News report identified as his best friend.[4] "We were curators at an exhibition together in the past, and he is a member of the poetry magazine Ma'ayan, where I am one of the editors," Arad said of Hadad.[4]

In 2005, the literary journal Maayan began publication under the joint editorship of Arad and Yehoshua Simon.[5] The journal presented itself as a publication for poetry, art, literature, and ideas, and its editorial approach combined different cultural forms while deliberately challenging elitist barriers.[5] Its poetry was noted for being socially and politically forceful, and Arad described the journal's voice as marked by humor and innovation — poetry that punctures what he called the "puffiness" he associated with the form.[5] The inaugural issue cost 17 shekels, a price equivalent to the minimum wage when it appeared.[5]

By 2008, Arad and Simon had launched a publishing house under the Maayan name.[6] Its first release was Ein HaKhamin by poet Van Nguyen, a collection of approximately 40 poems and one surreal story; about 4,500 copies were planned for distribution, 4,000 of them free with the journal.[6] The fourth issue of the journal alone featured more than 60 contributors.[6]

One of Maayan's most notable collaborative projects was the social-poetry anthology Aduma, produced together with other journals.[5] Arad reported that 3,000 copies sold, calling it probably the best-selling contemporary poetry anthology of recent years and describing it as a cultural precursor to Israel's "social summer" of protest.[5] Reflecting on the journal's philosophy, Arad once remarked: "There are two kinds of poems: those that make you lean back comfortably, and the second kind. This is a poem of the second kind."[5]

Alongside his literary work, Arad was a vocalist associated with the Israeli bands Ping Pong and Knack Pop.[7] He also pursued a solo recording career, releasing the album Sonol in two limited, small-distribution editions priced at 15 shekels each; both editions sold out.[7] Three music videos were produced for songs from the album.[7]

In 2004, Arad signed with Comfortstand, a Seattle-based online record label, which planned a February mini-album comprising four tracks from Sonol and one newly recorded song.[7] Commenting on the international signing, Arad joked: "I just hope they won't say I've gotten full of myself like Achinoam Nini."[7]

Arad worked as a journalist, including contributions to Haaretz.[8] In 2014, during the Gaza conflict known as Operation Protective Edge, he joined other artists in calling for a protest against the war, framing his opposition as an act of patriotism rather than dissent.[2]

Maayan became a central venue for younger Israeli poetry, introducing new poets and presenting a cultural, social, and poetic alternative.[5] Its publishing imprint extended that project into books, including Van Nguyen's Ein HaKhamin, thousands of copies of which were planned for distribution with the journal.[6]

In 2020, reports emerged describing allegations of sexual misconduct against Arad. A Ynet report detailed accounts from six women, two of whom said they were minors at the time of the incidents they described.[8] Arad responded that he did not remember the incidents as described, and expressed sorrow and apologies to women who felt harmed by him.[8] Following the reports, he stopped working for Haaretz and stepped away from his role managing the Maayan association.[8]

Separately, Walla reported an accusation by Anat Avishar-Koren concerning an alleged group assault in 2001 that she said involved Arad and others.[9] Arad denied her account, characterized it as false, and disputed her description of subsequent email correspondence between them; Avishar-Koren responded to his characterization of that correspondence.[9] These accounts represent reported allegations and competing denials, not findings established by the reporting.