The 2022 Wingate Literary Prize has generated a short list of seven books – chosen by merit of their nuanced, innovative approach to existing Jewish themes.
Among the four works of fiction and three non-fiction, the books cover subjects ranging from Israel, the Holocaust and Jewish life, to politics, gender, family, friendship, love and loss.
Now in its 45th year, the annual prize, worth £4,000 and run in association with JW3, is awarded to the best book, fiction or non-fiction, to translate the idea of Jewishness to the general reader.
The 2022 short-listed books are:
- At Night’s End by Nir Baram, translated by Jessica Cohen (Text Publishing)
- Letters to Camondo by Edmund de Waal (Chatto & Windus/ Vintage Publishing)
- Judaism for the World by Arthur Green (Yale University Press)
- To Be a Man by Nicole Krauss (Bloomsbury Publishing)
- The Ravine by Wendy Lower (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
- The Last Interview by Eshkol Nevo, translated by Sondra Silverston (Other Press)
- Ethel Rosenberg by Anne Sebba (St Martins Press/Orion Books)
This year’s judging panel is comprised of New Statesman political editor Stephen Bush; Senior Rabbi of the S&P UK Sephardi Community, Rabbi Joseph Dweck; award-winning novelist and short story writer M.J. Hyland and Women’s Prize longlisted author and journalist Jemma Wayne.
Rabbi Joseph Dweck, chair of the judging panel says: ‘With rigorous discussion and consideration, we have agreed on seven outstanding titles for the short list. We all acknowledge that, at this level, it is terribly difficult to determine the short from the long, all being so compelling, masterful and meaningful.
‘Many of the short list choices were chosen over others because of nuance, presenting fresh takes on existing themes and indeed, contribution and relationship to Jewish life and experience. Again, a common sentiment was that these volumes stayed with us considerably after having read them. Choosing a winner among them will be a truly formidable task.’
The Wingate prize winner will be announced on the evening of February 16, during an event with the short-listed author, chaired by the BBC’s Emily Kasriel and hosted online by the Wingate Prize and JW3. You can book your free tickets at https://www.jw3.org.uk/whats-on/wingate-literary-prize
Press information: Emma Shrimsley 07961 368481 emma@shrimsley.com
Follow the Wingate Literary Prize on Twitter @Wingateprize