Jewish writers

Abraham Sutzkever, right, before World War II in Vilnius, Lithuania. (Courtesy/via JTA)

July 27, 2019, 6:22 am

How poetry literally saved the life of a famed Yiddish writer

In 1944, Avraham Sutzkever and his wife Freydke had to walk through a minefield to reach the plane that would take them to freedom. They stepped to the rhythm of poetic meter

By Cnaan Liphshiz

Michael David Lukas at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco in 2014. (Wikimedia Commons)

May 2, 2019, 12:20 pm

Novel spanning centuries of Mideast Jewish life wins $100,000 literature prize

Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature awarded to Michael David Lukas for his book ‘The Last Watchmen of Old Cairo’ telling stories drawn from the Cairo Geniza

By Josefin Dolsten

Jewish author Jonathan Freedland. (Philippa Gedge)

April 12, 2019, 10:13 am

Novel envisions Yad Vashem burning as plotters eradicate historical truth

Leading UK Jewish journalist Jonathan Freedland once again turns his hand to fiction as his alter-ego, the best-selling thriller writer Sam Bourne

By Robert Philpot

Jamaica Kincaid listens during a panel on migration at the National Library of Israel's Global Forum, March 18, 2019. (Yonatan Kelberman)

March 31, 2019, 10:24 pm

Jamaica Kincaid is black and Jewish — but she’s through talking about identity

Speaking with The Times of Israel on the sidelines of the National Library of Israel’s Global Forum, the acclaimed author shares her thoughts on migration and religion

By Yaakov Schwartz

March 31, 2019, 5:11 am

9 writers who perfectly capture what it’s like for Jews of color

Jewish literature is an amazing, rich genre of diasporic Jewish stories, but these narratives are often left out of the tribe’s literary canon, and shouldn’t be overlooked

By Nylah Burton

Benjamin Markovits, author of 'A Weekend in New York.' (Courtesy)

March 12, 2019, 7:07 pm

In his 8th book, Benjamin Markovits writes what he knows: Jewish and complicated

Before speaking at London’s Jewish Book Week, the author opens up to ToI about how his newest novel, ‘A Weekend in New York,’ is informed by his mixed-faith upbringing

By Anne Joseph

(Collage by Alma; photo of T Kira Madden Madden courtesy of Madden/via JTA)

March 11, 2019, 3:24 am

Memoir takes on complex heritage of queer, Jewish, Chinese and Hawaiian author

T Kira Madden’s ‘Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls’ weaves a story of addiction, Florida, fatherless girls — and how Drew Barrymore saved her life

By Emily Burack

Author Austin Ratner and his new book, 'The Psychoanalyst's Aversion to Proof.' (Courtesy)

February 7, 2019, 3:53 am

New book puts Freud and psychoanalysis back on the couch

Medical doctor turned Sammy Rohr prizewinning author Austin Ratner analyzes why Freud’s school of psychology isn’t doing as well as it used to

By Cathryn J. Prince

Acclaimed American author Joyce Carol Oates will be the recipient of the 2019 Jerusalem Prize, to be awarded at the May 2019 Jerusalem International Book Forum (Courtesy Dustin Cohen)

January 23, 2019, 1:11 am

Acclaimed author Joyce Carol Oates to receive 2019 Jerusalem Prize

Award will be presented to the writer at May’s 2019 Jerusalem International Book Forum

By Jessica Steinberg

Inside Joseph's Bookstore in London. (Courtesy)

January 9, 2019, 4:57 am

Success of UK’s bestselling Jewish authors can’t mask huge decline in new titles

Even as demand for literature is on the rise, online bookstores make it nearly impossible to sustain a fixed literary space for secular ‘Jewish’ works by fledgling writers

By James Martin

Robert Neumark-Jones as Jesse and Asha Reid as Alex in Stephen Laughton's 'One Jewish Boy.' (Courtesy)

December 21, 2018, 1:59 pm

How a fringe anti-racism play has upset London’s streets and exploded Twitter

After being called out as a Jew when he blundered into a pro-Palestinian protest, playwright Stephen Laughton’s attempts to define his own tumultuous identity in ‘One Jewish Boy’

By Jenni Frazer

David Shrayer-Petrov outside of the Brookline Booksmith store in November, where he and the translators of 'Doctor Levitin' spoke to a crowd. (Courtesy of Maxim Shrayer/via JTA)

December 19, 2018, 10:36 pm

Refusenik, 82, sees first English translation of his tragic 1979 novel

‘Doctor Levitin,’ the first literary work to deal with the experiences of the dissident Jews, written by renowned writer David Shrayer-Petrov, who escaped the Soviet Union in 1987

By Penny Schwartz

William Goldman after winning the Oscar for best Screenplay from another medium for 'All the President's Men' at the 49th Academy Award presentation at Los Angeles Music Center, March 28, 1977.(AP Photo/Pendergrass)

November 16, 2018, 6:50 pm

William Goldman, Oscar winner behind ‘Butch Cassidy,’ ‘Princess Bride,’ has died

Screenwriting giant, 87, also behind ‘All the President’s Men’; authored ‘Marathon Man, non-fiction classic ‘Adventures in the Screen Trade’; said his film work was craft, not art

By Jake Coyle

Journalist and author Stephen Shepard. (Courtesy)

August 22, 2018, 11:51 pm

Media giant traces secular Jewish roots in the leaves of great American authors

Promoting his new book, former editor-in-chief of Business Week, Stephen Shepard, says writers such as Saul Bellow and Philip Roth ‘make it okay’ to be a non-religious Jew

By Rich Tenorio

Mike Reiss, writer for 'The Simpsons,' and the animated cast. (Sarah/Wikimedia Commons/ Bago Games)

June 23, 2018, 3:44 am

In NY, ‘The Simpsons’ writer strikes comedic gold with behind-the-scenes patter

On a book tour, Mike Reiss, one of the show’s key architects, is full of anecdotes from his years working on the series — as well as growing up Jewish in Connecticut

By Jordan Hoffman