Israeli writer Amos Oz has died at age 79 from cancer. Regularly touted as a favorite for the Nobel Prize for Literature, Oz was the author of dozens of books, including novels such as My Michael and Black Box, the autobiographical A Tale of Love and Darkness, and his most recent work Judas, which published in 2014. Its English translation was shortlisted for the International Man Booker Prize. Oz was an outspoken supporter of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and urged for dialogue between the opposing forces. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Friday called Oz “a literary giant.”