10 Things You Did Not Know About Ram Oren

1. At the age of 15 Oren won first prize, out of 342 submissions, at a short story contest at The Herzeliya High School.

2. At 15, armed with his short story prize certificate, Oren attempted to get hired by one of Israel’s newspapers. All turned him down because of his young age. Only Yediot Aharonot, which went on to become Israel’s leading daily, agreed to hire him as a messenger boy, without pay. Years went by before Oren was given the opportunity to write in the paper, let alone edit the weekend edition.

3. As a reporter for the Army’s weekly newspaper, Oren investigated the military prison system. Disguised as a prisoner, he was interned in one of the Army’s largest jails, where he intentionally disobeyed orders, and was thrown into solitary confinement. His investigative reporting triggered a major overhaul in the military’s incarceration procedures.

4. In 1990 Oren founded a company which produced educational games. One of them won Israel’s “Game of the Year” award.

5. Oren’s first two books “Birthday Cake” and “Corruption” were returned by all Israeli publishers on account of their being “un-commercial.” His third book, “Seduction,” was accepted by the Keter publishing house, though he was warned it probably wouldn’t sell. The book went on to become Israel’s top bestseller.

6. In 1996 Ram Oren founded the Keshet publishing house, which publishes his own, as well as other selected authors’, books. All of Keshet’s books to date have been bestsellers.

7. Oren’s 16 books have sold over a million copies, an unprecedented success in Israeli publishing. In 1997 Oren won the Author of the Year award from Israel’s commercial television channel.

8. In 1999, Israeli television broadcast a prime-time mini-series “Cause of Death: Murder” penned by Oren. The mini-series was s smash success.

9. Oren’s readers’ range in age from 16 to senior citizen. The biggest demand for his books, though, is in… prison.

10. Oren’s wife, Nitza, is his first reader and editor.