Four works of fiction and three non-fiction titles vie for the 46th annual Jewish literature award

The annual Wingate Literary Prize, worth £4,000, shines a light on the book that best translates the idea of Jewishness to the general reader, and now we know which of the 12 longlisted entries are in with a chance of bagging the 2023 award.

The 2023 Wingate Literary Prize Shortlist:

The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land by Omer Friedlander
Come to this Court and Cry by Linda Kinstler
The Island of Extraordinary Captives by Simon Parkin
The Memory Monster by Yishai Sarid
The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk
In the Midst of Civilised Europe by Jeffrey Veidlinger
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

The works were chosen by four expert judges – Dr Aviva Dautch, the Chair and JR's executive director; George Prochnik, Guggenheim Fellow and National Jewish Book Award winner; Sarah Shaffi, journalist, editor and author; and Julie Cohen, award-winning author – and range from short stories and varying narratives that analyse the life and colour in israel, to how the climate of the Holocaust was facilitated by the violence of the pogroms in civilised Europe.

"It was an extremely high-quality longlist," Dautch comments, "which made whittling down to a shortlist of seven particularly difficult. After a thorough discussion, considering the remit of the prize to select a book that translates Jewish experience to the general reader, we settled on a wonderfully diverse range of fiction and non-fiction. We judges have found reading all these books to be an enriching and thought-provoking experience and are particularly delighted to see new voices emerging alongside eminent historians and Nobel laureates."

By Dani Silver

The Wingate Literary Prize winner will be announced at a ceremony on Sunday 12 March. JW3, NW3 6ET. Visit wingatefoundation.org.uk to find out more.