Baghdad, and Refuge, A Trumpet in the Wadi, Water Kissing Water, and Nabila are set in Haifa, his adopted city. Michael wrote about his departure from Iraq and arrival in Haifa when he wrote of his first day in Haifa, Israel: In 1982, he left Haifa for 10 years, moving to the rural, northern Galilee town of Ma'alot, on the hillside overlooking a valley. It is here that he wrote the novel Brown Devils about rock hyraxes that frequently stole the fruits of his well-tended garden. In 1992 Michael he returned to Haifa. Sami Michael's Way – "The man is the crown of creation" (literary way) – is a route in the Wadi Nisnas, an Arab quarter of Haifa, named after Michael in 2002. Literary extracts from his novels are written along the walls of the route, both in Hebrew and in Arabic. Michael dedicated three novels to Wadi Nisnas including: A Trumpet in the Wadi. In 2008, Michael was appointed as an honorary member of the Arabic Language Academy in Israel. In 1987 the Israeli High Court of Justice appointed Michael as arbitrator to decide on a matter of education and multiculturalism. The subject was widely covered in the press, and his decision was a precedent in Israel which still stands. Michael is the chairperson of the Aachi Council- a council of Iraqi artists in Israel. He was a member of staff of the Jewish Quarterly in London. In 1998, Michael hosted a 13-part series on the Educational Television channel on World Literature, where he engaged writers, researchers and scholars in discussion about their favorite literary masterpieces. A number of documentaries films and programs on Michael have been made. Michael is a nominee for the Nobel Prize for Literature. In 2013, the Sami Michael Association was formed with the aim of upholding Michael's heritage. As of 2017, the nonprofit department awards individuals "who work for society with regard to reducing gaps and providing equal opportunities, in the spirit of author Sami Michael's concept of heritage, with an emphasis on social and geographical periphery." Among the winners of the award are Shula Mola, Yoav Lalom, Netta Elkayam and Ibtisam Mara'ana. Writing Michael's mother tongue is Arabic. It took him roughly 15 years to make the move from writing in Arabic to Hebrew. He has defined the switch as a "miracle": "It sometimes happens to me while writing, that I seek