Erika Dreifus

Toward the end of each week, the My Machberet blog presents a collection of links, drawn primarily from the world of Jewish books and writing.

• Early-bird registration for this year’s (virtual) Jewish Book Council (JBC) Writers’ Conference will remain open until October 18. Yours truly has been invited to serve as a panelist for one session (“New Lit­er­ary Ven­tures Post 10/7: Sup­port­ing the Jew­ish Lit­er­ary Ecosys­tem”) and to moderate another (“Writ­ing and Illus­trat­ing Mizrahi Voic­es, His­to­ry and Char­ac­ters with Authen­tic­i­ty”).
• This week has brought a new issue of Sapir, on the theme of “Influence.” Among the contents: a piece by Adam Bellow on “The Battle of the Books.” (Reminder: Subscriptions to Sapir’s print editions are free in the United States.)
• “The Canadian Jewish Literary Awards recognizes and rewards the finest Canadian writing on Jewish themes and subjects. This year, with a record number of submissions in several categories, the jury has selected nine exceptional books for recognition. The writers of these outstanding books will be presented with their Awards and prize monies during the in-person gala ceremony at the Al Green Theatre, Miles Nadal JCC, 750 Spadina Avenue, Toronto on Sunday, October 25, 2026, at 2:00 pm. Admission is free and everybody is welcome with preregistration.” (You can also register to receive the recording.)
• This week has also brought news that Zibby Owens has been named Books Editor for ORA magazine, “the first luxury Jewish lifestyle magazine.” (Unfortunately, subscriptions to this magazine are very much not free; even with a 10% discount, I haven’t yet signed up for this one myself.)
• And icymi: This week’s latest batch of writing/publishing opportunities included info about two new book publishers (Odessa Editions [which launched late last week] and Meg Keene Books) that are now open for Jewishly-inflected manuscript submissions, plus a part-time, remote gig announcement from In geveb.

Wishing everyone a Shabbat shalom and a meaningful Yom Kippur holiday. G’mar chatima tova.