Finalists for $100K Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish literature announced

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The Jewish Book Council on Thursday announced the five finalists for its substantial Sami Rohr Prize in fiction: $100,000 is awarded to the winner and $25,000 to the runner-up. The prizes, which are given to emerging writers, can make a significant difference in the course of a young writer’s career.

The award, in the words of its organizers, ‘honors the contribution of contemporary writers in the exploration and transmission of Jewish values and is intended to encourage and promote outstanding writing of Jewish interest.’ In alternate years, the Sami Rohr Prize is awarded to a work of nonfiction.

This year’s finalists are:

Allison Amend for ‘Stations West’ (Louisiana State University Press)
Nadia Kalman for ‘The Cosmopolitans’ (Livingston Press)
Julie Orringer for ‘The Invisible Bridge’ (Knopf)
Austin Ratner for ‘The Jump Artist’ (Bellevue Literary Press)
Joseph Skibell for ‘A Curable Romantic’ (Algonquin Books)

The winner and runner-up will be selected in March, and receive their awards at a New York ceremony on May 31.

-- Carolyn Kellogg