$100,000 Prize Established for Emerging Jewish Writers

by Daisy Maryles, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 1/10/2007

On January 5, the five finalists for the largest-ever Jewish literary prize—to be presented to an "emerging writer whose work is of exceptional literary merit and stimulates an interest in themes of Jewish concern"—were announced. The $100,000 Sami Rohr Prize, administered by the Jewish Book Council, was established by Rohr's family in celebration of the philanthropist's 80th birthday and to honor his lifelong love of Jewish writing.

The prize will be presented in alternating years for fiction and nonfiction. The $100,000 winner and two alternates (who will receive $7,500 each) will be announced in mid-March; the inaugural award for fiction will be presented at a gala event to be held in May at the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan.

The five novelists are: Naomi Alderman of England for Disobedience (Free Press); Amir Gutfreund of Israel for Our Holocaust (Toby Press); Yael Hedaya of Israel for Accidents (Metropolitan Books); Michael Lavigne of San Francisco, Calif., for Not Me (Random House); and Tamar Yellin of England for The Genizah at the House of Shepher (Toby Press).

In conjunction with the Sami Rohr Prize, the Rohr family will also establish the Sami Rohr Jewish Literary Institute, a forum devoted to nurturing quality Jewish writing and maintaining the continuity of Jewish literature. The Institute, also under the auspices of the Jewish Book Council, will convene a biennial gathering where established and emerging writers can meet and exchange ideas.

"The Institute will be an ideal forum for authors to connect, share experiences, and create a community of writers of Jewish literature," said Geri Gindea, director of the program.