De Waal and Krauss shortlisted for 2022 Wingate Literary Prize

The Wingate Literary Prize shortlist this year includes Nicole Krauss and Edmund de Waal with a mix of indie and corporate publishers in the running for the £4,000 award.

The seven titles were chosen for their “nuanced, innovative approach to existing Jewish themes", organisers said. Among the four works of fiction and three non-fiction titles, the books cover subjects ranging from Israel, the Holocaust and Jewish life to politics, gender, family, friendship, love and loss. 

Now in its 45th year, the annual prize, run in association with community and arts centre JW3, is awarded to the best book, fiction or non-fiction, “to translate the idea of Jewishness to the general reader".

The shortlist includes de Waal’s Letters to Camondo (Chatto & Windus), Krauss’ To Be a Man (Bloomsbury) along with Ethel Rosenberg by Anne Sebba (Orion). Also represented is At Night’s End by Nir Baram, translated by Jessica Cohen (Text Publishing), Judaism for the World by Arthur Green (Yale University Press), The Ravine by Wendy Lower (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) and The Last Interview by Eshkol Nevo, translated by Sondra Silverston (Other Press). 

This year’s judging panel includes award-winning novelist and short story writer M J Hyland and Women’s Prize-longlisted writer Jemma Wayne along with New Statesman political editor Stephen Bush and Rabbi Joseph Dweck.

Dweck, chair of the judging panel, said: “With rigorous discussion and consideration, we have agreed on seven outstanding titles for the shortlist. We all acknowledge that, at this level, it is terribly difficult to determine the short from the long, all being so compelling, masterful and meaningful. 

“Many of the shortlist choices were chosen over others because of nuance, presenting fresh takes on existing themes and indeed, contribution and relationship to Jewish life and experience. Again, a common sentiment was that these volumes stayed with us considerably after having read them. Choosing a winner among them will be a truly formidable task.” 

The prize winner will be announced on the evening of February 16th, chaired by Emily Kasriel, head of special projects at BBC World Service and hosted online by the Wingate Prize and JW3. Free tickets can be booked here.