Peter Gilbert Prize

We are delighted to team up with Jewish Renaissance, to award the first ever Peter Gilbert Prize. This brand new literary honour will be given to the writer of the best article from the archive of Jewish Renaissance magazine, as judged by an expert panel.

"This award should engage the contribution of the Jewish creative spirit to the intellectual and artistic life of the 20th century," said Adam Glinsman, who established the prize, which is named for his much-loved uncle. "Jewish Renaissance seemed a perfect partner, sharing as it does the same central aspiration."

We are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2022 Peter Gilbert Prize is Shalom Auslander for his imaginative, humorous and perceptive insight into Franz Kafka and the great writer's relationship with his home city, Prague. "As an old school, self-styled 'north London Jewish intellectual', Gilbert adored Kafka," said Glinsman. "His one semi-autobiographical novel was even described by Eva Hoffman as 'Kafka meets Italo Svevo'. Auslander writes about the centrality of Kafka's Jewishness, and Gilbert held that close too, despite being at the same time devoutly secular."

You can read the article here.