Great post, thanks Rivka. I hadn't heard of Rebecca Wolf's book previously...looking forward to checking it out. As Erika mentioned, I host a monthly author series featuring three authors of new books with Jewish content (mostly fiction, and some poetry and memoir)...It's over Zoom and occasionally in-person in Modiin... Here is the list of authors we have featured... https://bookshop.org/lists/books-by-authors-hosted-by-literary-modiin
The next Literary Modiin event is coming up right after Yom Hashoah - April 27 - due to the nature of this one, it is two memoirs and one novel...would love to see some new faces there!
I couldn't agree more!! Thanks for this post and for sharing about this book, which sounds amazing. This is exactly why I committed my author brand to writing strong Jewish characters into every book I write. My third novel releases in June, and they all have a thread of Jewish identity through them. It's so important!!
Thanks so much for introducing us/me to the novel you've profiled here.
I think that you may be presenting two different issues in the post. One is, "Why don’t we have more Jewish fiction?" And then you raise the point: "But we don’t do enough to highlight contemporary Jewish fiction writers."
I'm not saying that there's a tsunami of Jewish fiction being published today--there isn't, necessarily. But the bigger issue, I think, is bringing attention to worthy titles and connecting readers to it.
In addition to the AJL Fiction Award, I'd suggest monitoring selections from the Sami Rohr Jewish Literary Prize (which alternates, each year, between fiction and nonfiction: https://www.samirohrprize.org/). Tali Rosenblatt-Cohen's new podcast, "Five Jewish Books," also frequently spotlights works of Jewish fiction: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-five-books/id1780340939.
That's just for starters! Thanks again for bringing this up!
Thanks Erika! You’re definitely right - they’re two separate questions and the second one I think is a bigger issue. Would love to do more to spread awareness about Jewish fiction authors!
And I should have mentioned the Literary Modiin series, in which Julie Zuckerman routinely hosts authors of Jewish fiction (and other genres). https://www.juliezuckerman.com/literarymodiin
The Association of Jewish Libraries has an annual Jewish Fiction Award that highlights some of the best books that come out each year! There's also the Sydney Taylor Book Award, which is the Jewish equivalent of Newbery/Caldecott.
The world of Jewish fiction is small but growing. Special mention to authors Leah Gebber, Etka Gitel Schwartz, Ruchama King Fuerman, Esther Kurtz. If you're not familiar with their work, give them a try!
Great post, thanks Rivka. I hadn't heard of Rebecca Wolf's book previously...looking forward to checking it out. As Erika mentioned, I host a monthly author series featuring three authors of new books with Jewish content (mostly fiction, and some poetry and memoir)...It's over Zoom and occasionally in-person in Modiin... Here is the list of authors we have featured... https://bookshop.org/lists/books-by-authors-hosted-by-literary-modiin
The next Literary Modiin event is coming up right after Yom Hashoah - April 27 - due to the nature of this one, it is two memoirs and one novel...would love to see some new faces there!
https://www.juliezuckerman.com/event-info/literary-modiin-april-2025-author-event
This looks awesome! Thanks Julie.
I couldn't agree more!! Thanks for this post and for sharing about this book, which sounds amazing. This is exactly why I committed my author brand to writing strong Jewish characters into every book I write. My third novel releases in June, and they all have a thread of Jewish identity through them. It's so important!!
Thanks so much for introducing us/me to the novel you've profiled here.
I think that you may be presenting two different issues in the post. One is, "Why don’t we have more Jewish fiction?" And then you raise the point: "But we don’t do enough to highlight contemporary Jewish fiction writers."
I'm not saying that there's a tsunami of Jewish fiction being published today--there isn't, necessarily. But the bigger issue, I think, is bringing attention to worthy titles and connecting readers to it.
In addition to the AJL Fiction Award, I'd suggest monitoring selections from the Sami Rohr Jewish Literary Prize (which alternates, each year, between fiction and nonfiction: https://www.samirohrprize.org/). Tali Rosenblatt-Cohen's new podcast, "Five Jewish Books," also frequently spotlights works of Jewish fiction: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-five-books/id1780340939.
That's just for starters! Thanks again for bringing this up!
Thanks Erika! You’re definitely right - they’re two separate questions and the second one I think is a bigger issue. Would love to do more to spread awareness about Jewish fiction authors!
And I should have mentioned the Literary Modiin series, in which Julie Zuckerman routinely hosts authors of Jewish fiction (and other genres). https://www.juliezuckerman.com/literarymodiin
Thanks for sharing, Erika!
The Association of Jewish Libraries has an annual Jewish Fiction Award that highlights some of the best books that come out each year! There's also the Sydney Taylor Book Award, which is the Jewish equivalent of Newbery/Caldecott.
Thanks for this Aviva!
Here’s a new Jewish fiction novel: https://a.co/d/6XAblIu
The world of Jewish fiction is small but growing. Special mention to authors Leah Gebber, Etka Gitel Schwartz, Ruchama King Fuerman, Esther Kurtz. If you're not familiar with their work, give them a try!
Thanks for this! Let’s spread the word about these authors!!