The winners for books published in 2024 were announced at a ceremony in August 2025 held at the Woollahra Library, Double Bay.
Anna Stern, Deputy Director of Programs at Shalom Collective said, “The Australian Jewish Writer Awards aim to reflect the diversity of Jewish experience, thought, research, politics, and genres. To some, they are a public recognition and celebration of Australian Jewish writing. To others, a glimpse into the breadth of Jewish Australian experiences, perspectives and contributions. These shortlisted and winning are not a comprehensive overview of all the books either by Jewish authors or books on Jewish subjects published in 2024, but it is a strong, exciting and diverse list, a compelling snapshot of contemporary Jewish life and writing in Australia. I am proud to see amongst the entries and shortlists fiction, poetry, memoir, academic works, theatre scripts, cookbooks, biography and much more. These Awards are a true celebration of the diversity, richness and strength of Australian Jewish culture andn writing.”
The Leslie and Sophie Caplan Award for Jewish Non-Fiction
Winner: Dr Jana Vytrhlik, Treasures of Old Jewish Sydney, published by Longueville Media
Judges’ comments: In Treasures of Old Jewish Sydney Dr Jana Vytrhlik’s curatorial and historical skills are on display as she brings together artefacts, images, documents and architecture to recreate and retell the very beginnings of Sydney’s Jewish community. An extraordinary work of historical recovery, it is also a visually stunning book that brings the personalities and places of Sydney’s early community to life. Accompanied by original essays, 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. Award $10,000.
The Jewish Independent Young Jewish Writers Award
Winner Ellie Bouhadana, Ellie’s Table : Food form memory and food from home, published by Hardie Grant
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. What distinguishes Bouhadana’s debut is not just the recipes themselves, though many—like her Roman fried zucchini or chapter on focaccia and whipped butters—are genuinely tempting. It’s the way she structures the book like a dinner party, guiding the reader not through courses but through relationships, rituals, and remembered gestures. The writing is clear but emotionally textured, capturing the quiet intimacy of a safta’s kitchen or the improvisational joy of shared meals during lockdown. Without overstating its own premise, the book locates a living Jewishness not in abstraction but in salt, oil, repetition, and care. It’s a moving and beautifully realised debut. Award $5,000
The Szymon (Simon) Klitenik Award for Jewish Fiction
Winner: Linda Margolin Royal, The Star on the Grave, published by Affirm Press
Judges’ comments: The Star on the Grave by Linda Margolin Royal brings to life a story that has been underrepresented in Holocaust literature – that of ambassador, Chiune Sugihara, often referred to as the Japanese Schindler. Through measured and evocative prose, Margolin Royal layers storylines beautifully, moving between timelines and perspectives without losing clarity, and gracefully taking the reader along with her. The emotional arc is subtle but devastating, drawing people into the lives of characters who feel real and flawed.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 addressin themes of identity, resilience and healing. A moving read The award $5,000
The Edith Hausmann Award for Jewish Playwrights
Winner: Elise Hearst, Batsheva
Judges’ comments: Batsheva is a beautifully poetic and restrained monologue. It makes contemporary, current and relevant the inherent humanity of one of the most beautiful, symbolic and controversial stories in the Bible, and in turn, Jewish culture. What is particularly exciting about this work is its ambiguity. It achieves a rare but very important literary quality of activating the reader (and hopefully the spectator). It doesn’t unpack every detail of meaning, but rather, like poetry or music,invites the reader to participate, to analyse and to respond, individually. So many aspects of the story are imagined subjectively, which puts us in conversation with the work, authoring our own imagined understanding. The potential of this script is truly great. The award: $10,000
The Rosalind Sharbanee Meyer Award for Young Jewish Storytellers
Winner, Short Story category: Hayley Kaplan, The Question in the Margin
Judges’ comments: The Question in the Margin holds deep observation and specificity of details that connects the reader to the narrator in Sydney. A narrator who compassionately works with her parts of self to understand her whole self and who she wants to be through her faith. Hayley Kaplan doesn’t shy away from complexities and nuances and tackles her topic with courage, honesty, and passion. This is effective storytelling of an inner journey, through meaningful prose.
Winner, Poetry category
Mimi Baron, Dear Liri
Judges’ comments: Finding moments of hope in the ceremonies and songs of her Jewish culture,this is a powerful epistolary poem from Mimi Barton to Liri, that gives goosebumps and stays with the reader. Braiding timelines like challah, the poet shares her experiences and thoughts, including during one Shabbat prior to Rosh Hashanah in Sydney. Dear Liri explores what it means to live with courage and hold faith, honouring Liri and what she represents to the poet: strength. As the poet experiences and witnesses rising antisemitism in Australia and her city of Sydney, she finds solace by connecting with Liri’s strength. This is generous and intimate storytelling through poetry. Award $600.
