The Canadian Jewish Literary Awards will celebrate six outstanding Jewish-themed works this year, with an online presentation ceremony on Oct. 17.
Now in its seventh year, the awards program recognizes Jewish writing in fiction, biography, Jewish thought and culture, poetry, history, books for children and youth, Yiddish, scholarship and Holocaust categories.
The awards ceremony will be presented on Zoom on Oct. 17 at 2 p.m. and will be simultaneously broadcast (and available for later viewing) on the Canadian Jewish Literary Awards YouTube channel. The winning authors will speak about their books and answer questions submitted by the audience. Those attending on Zoom will be able to participate in the Q-and-A portion of the event.
In past years, the celebratory event has been held at the Tribute Communities Recital Hall at York University, attracting audiences and authors from around the world. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's presentation ceremony will be delivered in a virtual format.
This year’s winners:
- Fiction: Gary Barwin for Nothing the Same, Everything Haunted: The Ballad of Motl the Cowboy (Random House Canada)
- Biography: Menachem Kaiser for Plunder: A Memoir of Family Property and Nazi Treasure (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
- Poetry: Lisa Richter for Nautilus and Bone (Frontenac House)
- Children and Youth: Sigal Samuel for Osnat and Her Dove (Levine Querido)
- Scholarship Rebecca Clifford for Survivors: Children’s Lives After the Holocaust (Yale University Press)
- Holocaust: Judy Batalion for The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler’s Ghettos (William Morrow)
The Canadian Jewish Literary Awards recognize the finest books with Jewish themes and subjects by Canadian authors in a variety of genres. The awards program enriches and promotes Canadian Jewish writing and culture, enabling a better understanding of our collective past, our shared present and the world of the future. The Canadian Jewish Literary Awards do more than reward winning authors with a cash prize and a moment in the spotlight. They build pride, not only in the individuals being honoured, but in the creative achievements that reflect Jewish themes and ideas.
The event is supported by the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University.
For more on the awards, visit cjlawards.ca. To register for the event, visit this link.