Alon Shalev was born in London in 1964. After receiving an honor’s degree at the University of London’s Roehampton Institute, he spent 20 years in Israel helping to establish the intentional community, Kibbutz Lotan. Shalev has traveled extensively throughout the Far East and the United States seeking out different political, spiritual and communal paths.

He now lives in Berkeley, California with his wife and two sons and has completed three novels in the transformational genre.

A Gardener's Tale, Alon Shalev's first novel, is both poignant and provocative. Inspired by the revival of Paganism and its transformational abilities, this enthralling novel fuses ancient European spirituality with what may be a final glimpse of British rural tradition.

Cernes is a completed manuscript of a violent man’s struggle for self-transformation, a story of men’s spirituality and emancipation.

Oilspill dotcom is Alon Shalev’s third novel. It is a fictional account of the McLibel court case that transpired in London in the 1990's. It is seen through the eyes of a self-absorbed computer programmer, who creates the first interactive advocacy website to help level the playing field between two individuals and a multinational corporation in an epic court case that captured the imagination of the world. It is also about the transformation of a successful yuppie into an activist who wants to change the world -- one mega pixel at a time. DUE MARCH 2009

Alon has just completed a fourth novel, Unwanted Heroes, a funny yet hard hitting examination of the challenges facing war veterans and the coming of age of a young, hopeful writer.

Alon Shalev is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Hillel Foundation. As the head of a non-profit, he is frequently writing grant proposals and engaging in public speaking. Alon has also published articles in magazines including a regular column in the monthly “Eilat in English”.

           

Alon Shalev is the founder member and facilitator for the Berkeley Writer's Circle.