KORET INTERNATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARDS
NAMES WINNERS
(San Francisco, Oct. 16, 2006) – Stage and screen legend Theodore Bikel will host The Koret International Jewish Book Awards at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco on Nov. 15, 2006, at 7 p.m., presenting awards to Israeli novelist David Grossman (Her Body Knows), writer Rebecca Goldstein (Betraying Spinoza), Jewish life expert Rochel Berman (Dignity Beyond Death), and renowned storyteller Howard Schwartz (Before You Were Born). The JBooks.com People’s Choice Award for the decade’s best work of Jewish fiction as determined by online voters will be presented to Jonathan Safran Foer for his stunning journey of personal discovery, Everything is Illuminated.
The 92nd Street Y in New York will celebrate the winners on Nov. 21 at 8:15 p.m.
In addition to making acceptance remarks in San Francisco, the authors will engage in a moderated roundtable exploring themes such as what makes a book Jewish, where inspiration comes from, and the role of the writer in contemporary society.
“This year’s winning books explore the breadth of Jewish life, from Before You Were Born, to intimate relationships, personal journey, and ultimately, to Dignity Beyond Death, offering a collective commentary on the meaningful passages of human experience and how they are enhanced by a Jewish lens,” said book awards chair Yosef Israel Abramowitz.
In an effort to reach a broader constituency, Abramowitz and his steering committee invited other organizations that award Jewish book prizes to present their winners at Koret’s November ceremony. The National Foundation for Jewish Culture will present its Goldberg Prize to Kevin Haworth, who wrote The Discontinuity of Small Things; the Anne and Robert Cowan Award of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund will be presented to Julie Orringer, who wrote the short story collection How to Breathe Underwater; and the Reform Judaism Prize for Jewish Fiction will recognize Tamar Yellin for her short story collection, Kafka in Bronteland.
“We are one people, the people of the book,” Abramowitz observed. “Koret’s efforts to bring the best Jewish books and writers to a wide audience enhances the cultural literacy of our people and is a celebration of Jewish peoplehood.”
The Koret International Jewish Book Awards, managed for the first time this year by Jewish Family & Life (JFL) in cooperation with the National Foundation for Jewish Culture (NFJC), received nearly 350 publisher submissions. In addition, “the people” became the judges, nominating more than 100 books for consideration as the decade’s best work of Jewish fiction. Over 1,500 readers cast votes online at JBooks.com to select the People’s Choice Award winner.
"The number and quality of submissions in every category reflects a remarkably creative, productive and dynamic contemporary Jewish culture,” said book awards vice-chair Richard Siegel. “Each of the judging panels faced a difficult challenge in selecting the finalists and winners, which is good news for anyone concerned with the future of Jewish life, whether in America or around the world."
Prizes totaling $25,000 will be awarded as follows:
Jewish Life & Living
Underwritten by the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture
Dignity Beyond Death by Rochel Berman
Urim Publications
Fiction
Underwritten by the Jewish Community Endowment Fund,
Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco,
Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties
Her Body Knows by David Grossman
Farrar, Straus, Giroux
Jewish Thought
Betraying Spinoza by Rebecca Goldstein
Schocken/Nextbook
BabagaNewz Children’s Literature
Before You Were Born by Howard Schwartz
illustrated by Kristina Swarner
Roaring Brook Press
JBooks.com People’s Choice
Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Houghton Mifflin
The ceremony will also honor winners of the following awards:
NFJC’s Samuel Goldberg & Sons Foundation
Prize for Emerging Writers
Discontinuity of Small Things by Kevin Haworth
Quality Words in Print
Reform Judaism Prize for Jewish Fiction
Kafka in Bronteland by Tamar Yellin
Toby Press
Anne and Robert Cowan Writers’ Award
of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund
Julie Orringer
Previous winners have included Philip Roth for The Human Stain, Amos Oz for A Tale of Love and Darkness, and Daniel Matt for The Zohar, Pritzker Edition, Volumes I and II.
For complimentary tickets to awards ceremony, contact the JCCSF box office at (415) 292-1233 or email koretbookawards@jflmedia.com. A list of finalists and judges can be found on JBooks.com.
For information about the 92nd Street Y celebration, visit www.92y.org or www.jewishculture.org.
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About Koret
An entrepreneurial spirit guides Koret in addressing societal challenges and strengthening Bay Area life. Investing in strategic, local solutions, Koret helps to inspire a multiplier effect – encouraging collaborative funding and developing model initiatives.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, Koret adds to the region’s vitality by promoting educational opportunity, contributing to a diverse cultural landscape, and bolstering organizations that are innovative in their approaches to meeting community needs. Koret has supported the book awards program since 1998.
About Jewish Family & Life! (JFL)
JFL, a dynamic Jewish media organization committed to connecting Jews to Jewish life, was selected to reimagine Koret’s book awards. JFL’s deep understanding of the literary field through longstanding management of JBooks.com and the journal Sh’ma; its experience in forging partnerships with other organizations; and its media reach to targeted audiences of all ages through BabagaNewz magazine for middle school students, JVibe magazine for Jewish teens, and other websites focuses on the promise of sustained excellence and increased accessibility, both priorities stemming from the Koret mission.
About the National Foundation for Jewish Culture
The National Foundation for Jewish Culture (NFJC) is the leading advocate for Jewish cultural creativity and preservation in America. Since 1960, it has nurtured new generations of writers, filmmakers, artists, composers, choreographers, and scholars. The NFJC's national and international conferences, partnerships with local communities and institutions, and sponsorships of annual grants and awards in the arts and humanities bring the best of Jewish culture to the Jewish community and the American public.
CONTACT:
Susan Wolfe
Koret Foundation Funds
(415) 882-7740
swolfe@koretfoundation.org
Yosef Israel Abramowitz
Jewish Family & Life!
011-972-54-692-2008
YosefA@aol.com
Jill Baker,
Jewish Family & Life!
(617) 581-6849
jbaker@jflmedia.com
Paul Zakrewski
National Foundation for Jewish Culture
(212) 629-0500
literary_art@jewishculture.org
Emily Grotta
Union for Reform Judaism
(212) 650-4227
esgrotta@urj.org