Natan Notable Books

Natan Notable Books is a twice-year­ly award for non­fic­tion books on Jew­ish themes. Natan Notable Books high­lights vital books and authors, and brings inno­v­a­tive and impor­tant ideas to the atten­tion of diverse audiences.

Around Passover and the Jew­ish High Hol­i­days, Natan selects a ​“Natan Notable Book,” a recen­t­­ly-pub­­lished or about-to-be pub­lished non-fic­­tion title that will cat­alyze con­ver­sa­tions aligned with the themes of Natan’s grant­mak­ing: rein­vent­ing Jew­ish life and com­mu­ni­ty for the twen­­ty-first cen­tu­ry, shift­ing notions of indi­vid­ual and col­lec­tive Jew­ish iden­ti­ty, the his­to­ry and future of Israel, and the evolv­ing rela­tion­ship between Israel and world Jewry.

Natan Notable Book win­ners receive a Natan Notable Book seal and $5,000 for the author, marketing/​distribution coach­ing and pro­mo­tion from Jew­ish Book Coun­cil and Natan, and cus­tomized sup­port designed to bring the book and/​or the author to new audiences.

The Natan Notable Books Com­mit­tee is made up of Natan mem­bers and part­ners who select the win­ner, and nom­i­nate books for con­sid­er­a­tion. Pub­lish­ers and authors can also sub­mit books for consideration.

Sub­mis­sion details can be found below.

*Read about the Fall 2021 win­ner here.*

Natan Notable Books is a new iter­a­tion of what had pre­vi­ous­ly been called the Natan Book Award.

Recent Selections
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Sub­mit a Book
Please review the application materials and eligibility requirements below before submitting this application.

Submissions should be recen­t­­ly-pub­­lished or about-to-be pub­lished non-fic­­tion titles that will cat­alyze con­ver­sa­tions aligned with the themes of Natan’s grant­mak­ing: rein­vent­ing Jew­ish life and com­mu­ni­ty for the twen­­ty-first cen­tu­ry, shift­ing notions of indi­vid­ual and col­lec­tive Jew­ish iden­ti­ty, the his­to­ry and future of Israel, and the evolv­ing rela­tion­ship between Israel and world Jewry.

 

Digital materials (e.g., book proposal, manuscript) must be emailed to natannotable@jewishbooks.org. The application will not be complete until these files have been received.

The sub­mis­sions for the Spring 2022 award will be open until April 1, 2022 for non-fiction books pub­lished for the first time between October 1, 2021 and September 30, 2022.

Nominator Role
City, State, Country
Please include a short bio here, including previously published books, articles, professional achievements, and any other relevant information. Word count should be no more than 150 words.
2-5 sentence elevator pitch for the book
If available, please provide a contact at the publisher, including the name, title, and email address of the individual
Natan Notable Books Committee 

Daniel Bon­ner

Jere­my Dauber

Franklin Foer, co-chair

Jef­frey Goldberg

Sarah Gould Steinhardt

Feli­cia Herman

Matthew Hiltzik

Tali Rosen­blatt Cohen, co-chair

Mike Wigotsky



 

Build­ing a Conversation

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Turn­ing to ancient words in a bro­ken world brings Horn into a com­mu­ni­ty of liv­ing Jews. She ends this riv­et­ing, gor­geous­ly writ­ten book as Jews have done across the mil­len­nia: by engag­ing the past, embrac­ing the present and fac­ing toward the future.

– Pamela S. Nadell, “ ​‘Are Jew­ish Ghosts More Val­ued Than Jew­ish Lives?” (Wash­ing­ton Post)

Peo­ple Love Dead Jews reminds us that Jew­ish­ness is not a muse­um, a grave­yard, or a her­itage site but a live­ly ongo­ing con­ver­sa­tion at a long table that stretch­es before and behind us. Come out of hid­ing, Horn urges us, it’s time to take part in Jew­ish life.

– David Mikics, ​“Peo­ple Love Dead Jews” (Tablet)

Fierce­ly, fero­cious­ly, coura­geous­ly and backed with metic­u­lous research, Horn chal­lenges read­ers to con­front the rea­sons for the fas­ci­na­tion with Jew­ish deaths…

– Rahel Musleah, ​“Peo­ple Love Dead Jews” (Hadas­sah Mag­a­zine)

About Natan Fund

Natan inspires phil­an­thropists to become active­ly engaged in build­ing the Jew­ish future by giv­ing col­lab­o­ra­tive­ly to cut­t­ing-edge ini­tia­tives in Israel and in Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ties around the world. Natan believes that edu­cat­ed, engaged, and entre­pre­neur­ial phil­an­thropy can trans­form both givers and grant recip­i­ents. Natan is a giv­ing cir­cle — a grant­mak­ing foun­da­tion where mem­bers pool their char­i­ta­ble con­tri­bu­tions, set the group’s phil­an­thropic strat­e­gy and agen­da, and col­lec­tive­ly award grants to emerg­ing ini­tia­tives, work­ing active­ly with their lead­ers to help them grow. We believe that edu­cat­ed, engaged, and entre­pre­neur­ial phil­an­thropy can trans­form both givers and grant recip­i­ents. Learn more about Natan here.