Stage and screen legend Theodore Bikel will host The Koret International Jewish Book Awards at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco on Nov. 15, 2006, at 7 p.m., presenting awards to Israeli novelist David Grossman (Her Body Knows), Rebecca Goldstein (Betraying Spinoza), Rochel Berman (Dignity Beyond Death), and storyteller Howard Schwartz (Before You Were Born).
The JBooks.com People's Choice Award for the decade's best work of Jewish fiction as determined by online voters will be presented to Jonathan Safran Foer for his stunning journey of personal discovery, Everything is Illuminated. The award ceremony is the global kick-off for International Jewish Book Month.
The 92nd Street YMCA in New York will celebrate the winners on Nov. 21 at 8:15 p.m.
In San Francisco, the authors will engage in a moderated roundtable exploring themes such as what makes a book Jewish, where inspiration comes from, and the role of the writer in contemporary society.
"This year's winning books explore the breadth of Jewish life, from Before You Were Born, to intimate relationships, personal journey, and ultimately, to Dignity Beyond Death, offering a collective commentary on the meaningful passages of human experience and how they are enhanced by a Jewish lens," said book awards chair Yosef Israel Abramowitz.
In an effort to reach a broader constituency, Abramowitz and his steering committee invited other organizations that award Jewish book prizes to present their winners at Koret's ceremony.
The National Foundation for Jewish Culture will present its Goldberg Prize to Kevin Haworth (The Discontinuity of Small Things); the Anne and Robert Cowan Award of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund will be presented to Julie Orringer; and the Reform Judaism Prize for Jewish Fiction will recognize Tamar Yellin (Kafka in Bronteland).
The Koret International Jewish Book Awards, managed for the first time this year by Jewish Family & Life (JFL) in cooperation with the National Foundation for Jewish Culture (NFJC), received nearly 350 publisher submissions. JBooks.com received more than 100 nominations and over 1,500 online votes to select the JBooks.com People's Choice Award winner.
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