Jewish Quarterly Wingate Prize shortlist dominated by women

27th November 2013 - Foyles

Like this year's Costa Novel award whose shortlist has just been announced, The Jewish Quarterly Wingate Prize shortlist is dominated by women.

The Prize is awarded to a book - fiction or non-fiction - that explores themes of Jewish concern in any of its myriad possible forms either explicitly or implicitly.

Chair of the judging panel Rachel Lasserson said: 'As ever, the judging panel has focussed upon the quality and currency of the work, rather than the identity of the author. Strikingly, this year's shortlist is dominated by hitherto unknown female voices who offer fiction and memoir of urgent currency. The shortlist introduces the reader to new and shocking worlds: from the female underclass of the IDF to the choice-less tower of Satmar Hasidim via the wreckage of communist Europe and the family lager of Auschwitz. These singular six books attest to the infinite diversity of Jewish experience in 2013.'

The shortlisted titles are:

Shani Boianjiu's The People of Forever Are Not Afraid (whose author Foyles interviewed exclusively here); 
Yudit Kiss' The Summer My Father Died; 
Otto Dov Kulka's Landscapes of the Metropolis of Death;
Ben Marcus' The Flame Alphabet; Anouk Markovits' I Am Forbidden and Edith Pearlman's Binocular Vision.

More about each title.

The winner will be announced at a ceremony during Jewish Book Week at Kings Place on 26th February 2014.

Last year's winner was Hope: A Tragedy by Shalom Auslander