Nation­al Jew­ish Book Awards

Men­tor­ship Award

About this award

This award seeks to rec­og­nize indi­vid­u­als employed in tra­di­tion­al pub­lish­ing or work­ing inde­pen­dent­ly as edi­tors, agents, pub­li­cists, pub­lish­ers, lit­er­ary crit­ics and have exhib­it­ed sub­stan­tial engage­ment with Jew­ish authors. The goal of this award is to rec­og­nize those who nur­ture and men­tor Jew­ish authors through the many steps toward pub­li­ca­tions and beyond.

Year Endowment Winner Finalists
2025 In Honor of Carolyn Starman Hessel

Samuel G. Freedman
2024 In Honor of Carolyn Starman Hessel

Aaron Lansky

Founder, the Yiddish Book Center
2023 In Honor of Carolyn Starman Hessel

Altie Karper
2022 In Honor of Carolyn Starman Hessel

Ellen Frankel
2021 In Honor of Carolyn Starman Hessel

Bonny V. Fetterman
2020 In Honor of Carolyn Starman Hessel

Deborah Harris

Director of The Deborah Harris Agency
2019 In Honor of Carolyn Starman Hessel

Dena W. Neusner

Exec­u­tive Edi­tor at Behrman House and its children’s book imprint, Apples & Hon­ey Press.
2018 In Honor of Carolyn Starman Hessel

Susan Shapiro
2017 In Honor of Carolyn Starman Hessel

Gary Rosenblatt

Editor and Publisher of the The Jewish Week of New York