Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature Honors

By BJLIfe/Sharon Altshul
Posted on 08/10/23

The 2023 Winners and Finalists for Fiction

Jerusalem, Israel - Aug. 10, 2023  -  The Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, in association with the National Library of Israel, presented the 2023 winner and finalists for fiction with awards at a festive ceremony held in the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem, Israel on Wednesday night.

George Rohr presented the award to this year's Winner Iddo Gefen, author of Jerusalem Beach (Astra House), after reading an excerpt to the audience. Jerusalem Beach is a rich collection of stories enhanced by Gefen's personal experience as a neurocognitive researcher.

The program was moderated by Rabbi David Wolpe, who also led a panel discussion with this year's authors and translators.  Evelyn Rohr Katz presented the award to Translation Winner Daniella Zamir. Sallai Meridor, NLI Board Chair, presented awards to the finalists.

According to Debra Goldberg, Director of the Prize, this year's ceremony included several 'firsts': "It was the first time since the Covid-19 epidemic that the ceremony was held live, in Jerusalem; the first time the award has been given to a Translation Winner; and the first time that a book originally written in Polish received SRP recognition."

The 2023 finalists in fiction are:

Max Gross, author of The Lost Shtetl (HarperVia), a small Jewish village in Poland that is so secluded no one knows it exists...until now.

Mikołaj Grynberg, author of I’d Like to Say Sorry, But There’s No One to Say Sorry To (The New Press), with vignettes illuminating the panorama of the Jewish experience in contemporary Poland.

Anna Solomon, The Book of V. (Henry Holt and Co.), a story of the intertwining lives of three Jewish women across three centuries and converging in the present.

Sean Gasper Bye, Translation Finalist for I'd Like to Say Sorry, But There's No One to Say Sorry To.

The 2024 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature for Nonfiction will be awarded at a ceremony to take place in New York next June.

About the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature

As the premier award of its kind, the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature recognizes the unique role of contemporary writers in the examination and transmission of the Jewish experience. The $100,000 prize is granted annually, for non-fiction and fiction in alternating years, to an emerging writer who demonstrates the potential for continued contribution to the world of Jewish literature. Inaugurated in 2006, the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature honors the legacy of Sami Rohr who enjoyed a lifelong love of Jewish learning and literature. www.samirohrprize.org