Jewish Literary Links
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.
- “Jason Diamond is the 2026 winner of the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) Jewish Fiction Award for his novel Kaplan’s Plot, published by Flatiron Books, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers. The award includes a $1,000 cash prize and an invitation to attend the 2026 conference of the Association of Jewish Libraries, June 22–24, in Evanston, Illinois. Three honor books have also been recognized: Sisters of Fortune by Esther Chehebar, published by Random House, an imprint of Penguin Random House; Fagin the Thief by Allison Epstein, published by Doubleday, an imprint of Penguin Random House; and The Maiden and Her Monster by Maddie Martinez, published by Tor Books, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers. The committee reviewed close to 100 works of fiction originally written in or translated into English with significant Jewish thematic content published in the United States in 2025.”
- Additional award news this week: “Six outstanding books of fiction and non-fiction have been selected as the shortlist for the inaugural Freudenheim Translation Prize. This international prize celebrates excellence in translating fiction and non-fiction into English, highlighting the power of Jewish literature to engage international and diverse audiences.” Find the shortlisted titles, as well as information regarding a related (free, online) event scheduled for February 12, on the website of the Jewish Literary Foundation.
- An important update about The Sydney Taylor Shmooze, which “was created in 2020 to offer critical evaluation of Jewish children’s literature. It began life as a Mock Sydney Taylor Book Award blog, but soon evolved into a review source for Jewish juvenile books. As of 2026, we are rebranding The Sydney Taylor Shmooze and moving it to this Substack [The Jewish Book Garden]. This will allow readers to receive reviews via email, and even to select reviews of books for specific age levels. New book reviews, as well as those from 2020-2025, will be available here at The Jewish Book Garden. The Sydney Taylor Shmooze site will remain available (archived) at SydneyTaylorShmooze.com.
- “If antisemitism has long plagued France, dating back to the Middle Ages, it’s now metastasizing in new, alarming ways, according to a recently published book by French journalist Nora Bussigny.” Details in Robert Sarner’s report for The Times of Israel. (And here’s what appears to becoming a recurrent question: Does anyone have info regarding when this book may/will be available in English translation?)
- And a reminder (in this case, via Ron Charles’s Book Club newsletter for The Washington Post): “‘And That’s True Too: The Life and Work of Lore Segal’ opens Jan. 22 at the Leo Baeck Institute in New York (details). Drawing on photographs, manuscripts and rare books, the exhibition traces the life and literary legacy of Segal (1928-2024), who escaped Nazi-occupied Vienna as a child on a Kindertransport and went on to become a novelist, translator, children’s author and teacher in the United States. At the exhibit opening Thursday, Toni Kalem will read from Segal’s 1964 autobiographical novel, Other People’s Houses (livestream, 6:30 p.m. ET). Her final story collection, Still Talking, will be released by Melville House on March 10. The New Press will republish Other People’s Houses, Shakespeare’s Kitchen and Her First American over the next three months.”
Wishing everyone a Shabbat shalom.
