The 2014 Jewish Quarterly Wingate Book Award

I’ve had the huge honour, this year, of serving as a judge on the Jewish Quarterly Wingate Prize. The award is for a book of literary merit which encourages conversations on matters of Jewish interest. Every book on the shortlist is well worth a read, and the winner .... well the winner will be announced as part of the Jewish Book Week celebrations of all things Jewish and bookish on the 26^th February.

 

Edith Pearlman short story collection, Binocular Vision, contains both new stories and highlights from a career as one of American’s leading short-story writers. At her best Pearlman has an extraordinary ability to capture something poignant and moving and her insights into Jewish suburban life are gorgeous.

 

Otto Dov Kulka is a mature historian of the Holocaust who, late in life, has finally attempted to lift the veil on his academic work and reveal something of his own life’s journey, as a Holocaust survivor and a scholar. The Landscapes of the Metropolis of Death is wise, haunting, personal and terribly moving.

 

Shani Boianjiu’s novel, The People of Forever are Not Afraid, is a look inside life in the contemporary Israeli Army as seen through the eyes of young female soldiers. It’s raw, sexual and vibrant. It’s a book about the absence of an existential threat to the state and search for meaning without something that so inspired previous generations.

 

Ben Marcus’ The Flame Alphabet charts life in a dystopian imagined world where language kills – and the language of children most especially. It’s a brave attempt to portray a world almost unimaginable – especially for a Jew, for whom speech is so integral.

 

Anouk Markovits grew up in an ultra-orthodox world, and left. It’s a personal insight that illuminates I Am Forbidden, a page turner tale of a young woman who leaves, and another who stays in the Satmar community into which they were born. It’s a tale about the collision of law and love and I thought it worked beautifully.

 

Yudit Kiss reflects on The Summer My Father Died . Kiss grew up in Budapest, daughter of a proud communist. As communism fails and she begins her own exploration of Judaism her father suffers first one then a second brain tumour. It’s the story of a century, told with insight and a daughter’s love.

 

There are still some tickets available for the discussion and presentation of the award. You can book tickets at http://tinyurl.com/pl73ug6. It should be a wonderful evening.

 

Shabbat shalom

 

Rabbi Jeremy