The best Jewish Australian books of the past year

From romance and memoir to historical fiction and illustrated recipes, this year’s shortlist of books nominated for the 2025 Australian Jewish Writer Awards showcases the depth and breadth of modern Jewish literature across the country.

Now in their second year, the awards were created by not-for-profit Shalom Collective to acknowledge excellence in contemporary Australian Jewish writing. The endevour aims to strengthen Jewish life by promoting the reading of nominated texts and inspiring the development of future works. 

This year’s book awards, which involve works published in the 2024 calendar year, span three categories: young Jewish writers; Jewish non-fiction; and for the first time, Jewish fiction. 

“This year’s shortlists are a captivating reflection of the strength, breadth and creativity of contemporary Jewish Australian writing and research,” said Anna Stern, Shalom Collective’s deputy director of programs, who initiated the awards last year. 

“We hope that not only our authors benefit from the honour of being shortlisted, but that the public embraces this opportunity to learn more about the Jewish Australian experience, and contemporary Australian Jewish writing.” 

A further two awards have also been added this year: The Edith Hausmann Award for Jewish Playwrights, which offers a $10,000 prize for an unproduced script; and The Rosalind Sharbanee Meyer Award for Young Jewish Storytellers, which awards Sydney-based short stories and poetry with prizes totalling $600. 

The Leslie and Sophie Caplan Award for Jewish Non-Fiction awards $10,000 for non-fiction works of significant relevance to the Jewish experience. In 2024, veteran journalist and former editor-in-chief of The Age, Michael Gawenda, took out the prize for his memoir My Life as a Jew.

The non-fiction award is supported by the Caplan family in honour of their late parents, both of whom published works on Australian Jewish history and held life-long interests in modern Jewish literature. 

This year, the judges – Jewish studies professor Avril Alba, author Lee Kofman and lawyer Jonathan Caplan – selected books across a range of genres, from narrative non-fiction to investigative memoir: 

Judges’ comments: “How to Knit a Human, is an achingly sad yet also moving and sometimes funny memoir. Following Jacobson’s journey of rediscovery, achievement and the desire for love cannot help but bring tears of joy to the reader.” 

Judges’ comments: “This scholarly work is based on a detailed study of archives in Australia and Europe and is a timely and notable contribution to our understanding of recent Australian history." 

Judges’ comments: “Squat is a brave and idiosyncratic work of narrative nonfiction that candidly explores the nature of modern-day antisemitism, bringing much insight as well as wit to this otherwise grave quandary.” 

Judges’ comments: “This well researched and well told book is a story about obsessions, literary intrigues, and the whimsical nature of history and how it can shape individual lives.” 

Judges’ comments: “This volume has filled a much-needed gap in the historiography, and in so doing has enriched our knowledge of Jewish life, practice and history in Australia.” 

The Jewish Independent Award for Young Jewish Writers awards $5,000 for works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry on Jewish subjects by authors aged 18 to 40. Last year, Anna Jacobson – who is nominated again this year – was awarded the prize for her poetry collection, Anxious in a Sweet Store. 

The award is supported by TJI’s publisher Uri Windt, with musician and writer Simon Tedeschi, author and researcher Roz Bellamy, and TJI’s events and partnerships manager Sharon Berger comprising the judging panel. This year’s shortlist includes: 

Judges' comments: “Ellie’s Table is more than a cookbook — it’s an elegant act of cultural retrieval, a weaving of cultural memory into the textures of inherited cuisine.” 

Judges’ comments: “In Bad Faith charts the arduous journey [Dassi] faced for justice over more than 15 years of court cases, political interference and community pushback against the revelations from her and her sisters.” 

Judges’ comments: “Jacobson has used powerful prose, poetry and illustrations in the book, and also tells us her story from behind the lens of a camera, as she plays the French horn, or learns to knit – each medium offering rich insights into her life experiences.” 

The inaugural Szymon (Simon) Klitenik Award for Jewish Fiction offers a prize of $5,000 for an Australian fiction book written by a Jewish author. Supported by Dr Janet Hiller, this new award has been donated in memory of Klitenik, who, after immigrating from Poland to Melbourne in 1939, enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces and was killed in action in New Guinea in 1945, aged 21. 

Judged by poet and interviewer Magdalena Ball, author and editor Katia Ariel, and The Australian Jewish News’ arts and lifestyle editor Jessica Abelsohn, the shortlist includes: 

Judges’ comments: “This is a story about loss and recovery, truth and silence, and most profoundly, the way that art can help us survive uncontainable pain. Brilliantly observed, thrillingly plotted and sensuously described.” 

Judges’ comments: “The writing throughout is lovely, taut and poetic, with big, embodied themes around transformation, forgiveness and sacrifice handled with subtlety and care.” 

Judges’ comments: “Rather than retread familiar ground, The Star on the Grave finds freshness in its approach, using family secrets, buried grief and how we make sense of loss to preserve history, while addressing themes of identity, resilience and healing. A moving read.” 

Judges’ comments: “The book’s slick structure, shifting narrative, the edgy London setting and the self-contained nature of each chapter makes this a fun, engaging and super-fast read.” 

The winners of the 2025 Shalom Collective Australian Jewish Writer Awards will be announced at an award ceremony on 24 August 2025. Find out more online.