Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature

The Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature is an annual prize awarded to an outstanding literary work of Jewish interest by an emerging writer. Previously administered by the Jewish Book Council, it is now given in association with the National Library of Israel.

Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature
Awarded forrecognising the unique role of contemporary writers in the transmission and examination of the Jewish experience, and to encourage and promote outstanding writing of Jewish interest.
CountryUnited States
First awarded2007
Websitesamirohrprize.org

History

In 2006, the family of Jewish philanthropist Sami Rohr honored his lifelong love of Jewish learning and great books by establishing the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature on his 80th birthday.[1]

The annual award, alternating between fiction and non-fiction, seeks to promote writings of Jewish interest, and to encourage the examination of Jewish values among "emerging" writers.[2]

The $100,000 Prize honors an author whose work demonstrates potential for future contribution to the world of Jewish literature. All winners, Choice Award recipients, finalists, judges and advisors are Fellows in the Sami Rohr Jewish Literary Institute. The winner and finalists are honored at an awards ceremony for fiction in New York; the event for non-fiction takes place in Jerusalem.[3]

The $100,000 prize is among the richest literary prizes in the world.

Eligibility and selection

Works are sought and nominated, with specific guidelines, by an advisory panel. The winner and finalists are selected by an independent group of judges, and all deliberations are strictly confidential. The Rohr family has no input or participation in the nomination or selection process.[3]

From 2007 through 2019, the runner-up award was called the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature Choice Award. The Choice Award was discontinued in 2020. Three finalists each receive a monetary prize of $5,000.[3]

Translated works are eligible. Eligible non-fiction works are restricted to the domains of biography, history, Jewish current affairs, Jewish scholarship, or contemporary Jewish life.[3]

Honorees
Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature honorees
Year Author Title Result Ref.
2007 Tamar Yellin The Genizah at the House of Shepher Winner [4][5]
Michael Lavigne Not Me Runner-up [4][5]
Amir Gutfreund Our Holocaust Runner-up [4][5]
Yael Hedaya Accidents Shortlist
Naomi Alderman Disobedience Shortlist
2008 Lucette Lagnado The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit Winner [6][7]
Eric Goldstein The Price of Whiteness Runner-up [6][7]
Ilana Blumberg Houses of Study Runner-up [6][7]
Haim Watzman A Crack in the Earth Shortlist
Michael Makovsky Churchill's Promised Land Shortlist
2009 Sana Krasikov One More Year Winner [8][9]
Dalia Sofer The Septembers of Shiraz Runner-up [8][9]
Elisa Albert The Book of Dahlia Shortlist
Anne Landsman The Rowing Lesson Shortlist
Anya Ulinich Petropolis Shortlist
2010 Kenneth B. Moss Jewish Renaissance in the Russian Revolution Winner (tie) [10]
Sarah Abrevaya Stein Plumes: Ostrich Feathers, Jews, and a Lost World of Global Commerce [10]
Lila Corwin Berman Speaking of Jews: Rabbis, Intellectuals, and the Creation of an American Public Identity Shortlist
Ari Y. Kelman Station Identification: A Cultural History of Yiddish Radio in the United States Shortlist
Danya Ruttenberg Surprised by God: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Religion Shortlist
2011 Austin Ratner The Jump Artist Winner [11]
Joseph Skibell A Curable Romantic Runner-up [11]
Nadia Kalman The Cosmopolitans Shortlist
Julie Orringer The Invisible Bridge Shortlist
Allison Amend Stations West Shortlist
2012 Gal Beckerman When They Come for Us, We’ll Be Gone: The Epic Struggle to Save Soviet Jewry Winner [12]
Abigail Green Moses Montefiore: Jewish Liberator, Imperial Hero Runner-up [12]
Ruth Franklin A Thousand Darknesses: Lies and Truth in Holocaust Fiction Shortlist
Jonathan B. Krasner The Benderly Boys and American Jewish Education Shortlist
James Loeffler The Most Musical Nation: Jews and Culture in the Late Russian Empire Shortlist
2013 Francesca Segal The Innocents Winner [13]
Ben Lerner Leaving the Atocha Station Runner-up [13]
Stuart Nadler The Book of Life Shortlist
Asaf Schurr Motti Shortlist
Shani Boianjiu The People of Forever Are Not Afraid Shortlist
2014 Matti Friedman The Aleppo Codex: A True Story of Obsession, Faith, and the Pursuit of an Ancient Bible Winner [14]
Sarah Bunin Benor Becoming Frum: How Newcomers Learn the Language and Culture of Orthodox Judaism Runner-up [14]
Eliyahu Stern The Genius: Elijah of Vilna and the Making of Modern Judaism Shortlist [15]
Nina S. Spiegel Embodying Hebrew Culture: Aesthetics, Athletics, and Dance in the Jewish Community of Mandate Palestine Shortlist [15]
Marni Davis Jews and Booze: Becoming American in the Age of Prohibition Shortlist [15]
2015 Ayelet Tsabari The Best Place on Earth Winner [16]
Kenneth Bonert The Lion Seeker Runner-up [16]
Yelena Akhtiorskaya Panic in a Suitcase Shortlist [17]
Boris Fishman A Replacement Life Shortlist [17]
Molly Antopol The UnAmericans Shortlist [17]
2016 Lisa Leff The Archive Thief: The Man Who Salvaged French Jewish History in the Wake of the Holocaust Winner [18]
Yehuda Mirsky Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of Revolution Runner-up [18]
Aviyah Kushner The Grammar of God: A Journey into the Words and Worlds of the Bible Shortlist
Dan Ephron Killing a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel Shortlist
Adam Mendelsohn The Rag Race: How Jews Sewed Their Way to Success in America and the British Empire Shortlist
2017 Idra Novey Ways to Disappear Winner [19]
Daniel Torday The Last Flight of Poxl West: A Novel Runner-up [19]
Rebecca Schiff The Bed Moved: Stories Shortlist [20]
Paul Goldberg The Yid Shortlist [20]
Adam Ehrlich Sachs Inherited Disorders: Stories, Parables & Problems Shortlist [20]
2018 Ilana Kurshan If All the Seas Were Ink: A Memoir Winner [21]
Sara Yael Hirschhorn City on a Hilltop: American Jews and the Israeli Settler Movement Runner-up [21]
Chanan Tigay The Lost Book of Moses: The Hunt For The World’s Oldest Bible Shortlist [22]
Yair Mintzker The Many Deaths of Jew Süss: The Notorious Trial and Execution of an Eighteenth-Century Court Jew Shortlist [22]
Shari Rabin Jews on the Frontier: Religion and Mobility in Nineteenth-Century America Shortlist [22]
2019 Michael David Lukas The Last Watchman of Old Cairo Winner [23]
Dalia Rosenfeld The Words We Think We Know Runner-up [23]
Rachel Kadish The Weight of Ink Shortlist [24]
Mark Sarvas Memento Park Shortlist [24]
Margot Singer Underground Fugue Shortlist [24]
2020 Benjamin Balint Kafka's Last Trial: The Case of a Literary Legacy Winner [25]
Sarah Hurwitz Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life--in Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There) Shortlist
Yaakov Katz Shadow Strike: Inside Israel's Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power Shortlist
Mikhal Dekel Tehran Children: A Holocaust Refugee Odyssey Shortlist
2022 Menachem Kaiser Plunder: A Memoir of Family Property and Nazi Treasure Winner [26]
Danny Adeno Abebe, trans. by Eylon Levy From Africa to Zion: The Shepherd Boy Who Became Israel’s First Ethiopian-Born Journalist Shortlist [27]
Ayala Fader Hidden Heretics: Jewish Doubt in the Digital Age Shortlist [27]
2023 Iddo Gefen, trans. by Daniella Zamir Jerusalem Beach Winner
Anna Solomon The Book of V Shortlist [28]
Mikolaj Grynberg, trans. by Sean Gasper Bye I’d Like To Say I’m Sorry, But There’s No One To Say Sorry To Shortlist [28]
Max Gross The Lost Shtetl Shortlist [28]

References
  1. Dennis Hevesi (August 10, 2012). "Sami Rohr, Jewish Philanthropist Remembered by a Writing Prize, Dies at 86". New York Times. Archived from the original on January 30, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
  2. Jessica Weinberg (March 15, 2013). "A Dispatch from the National Jewish Book Awards Ceremony". Tablet. Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  3. "Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature guidelines". Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  4. Lapidos, Juliet (2007-03-30). "A Chat With Tamar Yellin, Winner of New Fiction Prize". The Jewish Daily Forward. Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  5. "Sami Rohr Prize 2007". Jewish Book Council. Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  6. "Sami Rohr Prize 2008". Jewish Book Council. Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  7. Crown, Sarah (2008-02-13). "Exile's tale takes $100,000 Jewish book prize". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  8. "Sami Rohr Prize 2009". Jewish Book Council. Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  9. "Sana Krasikov wins Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature". The Jerusalem Post. 2009-03-26. Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  10. "2010 Sami Rohr Prize Winners Announced". Jewish Book Council. 2010-01-26. Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  11. Oster, Marcy (2011-03-24). "Austin Ratner wins Rohr prize for first novel". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Archived from the original on 2013-12-09. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  12. "Gal Beckerman Wins $100,000 Sami Rohr Prize". Publishers Weekly. 2012-02-15.
  13. Winkler, Joe (2013-04-10). "Novelist Francesca Segal wins Sami Rohr Prize with 'The Innocents'". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Archived from the original on 2013-12-09. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  14. Kissileff, Beth (2014-01-23). "2014 Sami Rohr Prize Awarded In Jerusalem". Tablet. Archived from the original on 2015-02-27. Retrieved 2015-02-27.
  15. Chandler, Adam (2013-11-07). "'The Aleppo Codex' Nabs the Sami Rohr Prize". Tablet. Archived from the original on 2013-11-10. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  16. "Ayelet Tsabari Wins Sami Rohr Prize". The Jewish Daily Forward. 2015-02-23. Archived from the original on 2015-02-27. Retrieved 2015-02-27.
  17. "Sami Rohr Prize 2015". Jewish Book Council. Archived from the original on 2015-01-26. Retrieved 2015-01-24.
  18. Steinberg, Jessica (2016-06-05). "Sami Rohr prize-winners tell of books that insisted on being written". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  19. "Idra Novey wins Sami Rohr prize for Jewish literature". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2017-05-03. Archived from the original on 2017-05-04. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  20. Jewish Book Council (2017-04-03). "2017 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature Fellows Announced". Facebook. Archived from the original on 2023-05-02. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  21. "Author Ilana Kurshan wins $100,000 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature". The Times of Israel. 2018-06-06. Archived from the original on 2019-06-21. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  22. Zax, Talya (2018-04-30). "Sami Rohr Prize Finalists include Ilana Kurshan, Yair Mintzker". Forward. Archived from the original on 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  23. Grisar, PJ (2019-05-01). "Michael David Lukas Wins 2019 Sami Rohr Prize". Forward. Archived from the original on 2019-12-07. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
  24. Grisar, PJ (2019-04-01). "The Sami Rohr Prize For Jewish Literature Announces Its Nominees". Forward. Archived from the original on 2020-08-15. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  25. Brawarsky, Sandee (2020-05-11). "'Kafka's Last Trial' Garners Prestigious Rohr Prize". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 2020-05-26. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
  26. "Menachem Kaiser wins Sami Rohr Prize for nonfiction". Jewish News Syndicate. 2022-05-19. Archived from the original on 2022-05-20. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  27. "Finalists announced for best Jewish literature authors of 2022". The Jerusalem Post . 2022-04-26. Archived from the original on 2022-05-22. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  28. Muchnick, Laurie (2023-04-30). "A Prize Recognizes the Riches of Jewish Literature". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on 2023-05-02. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
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