The Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature and the National Library of Israel have announced a new collaboration to promote their shared vision to further cultivate a vibrant international Jewish literary culture and community.
The Sami Rohr Prize recognizes the role of contemporary writers in the examination and transmission of the Jewish experience.
The annual $100,000 prize is given to an emerging writer, for fiction and nonfiction in alternating years, who demonstrates the potential for continued contribution to the world of Jewish literature.
Recent winners have included Benjamin Balint, Michael David Lukas and Ilana Kurshan.
In 2021, Nicole Krauss became the first recipient of the prize’s Inspiration Award for Fiction.
The annual award ceremony takes place alternately in Israel and the United States. With the opening of the new National Library of Israel campus in Jerusalem later this year, the Israeli prize ceremony and festivities will take place there.
The Sami Rohr Prize will be officially announced as the “Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature awarded in association with the National Library of Israel.”
In previous years, the prize was only awarded for original works in English. Now, works that have been translated into English will also be eligible for consideration.
