The Natan Fund and the Jewish Book Council have launched Natan Notable Books, a twice-yearly award for nonfiction books on Jewish themes. Natan Notable Books is a new iteration of what had previously been called the Natan Book Award, awarded in 2018 to Matti Friedman’s Spies of No Country and in 2014 to Ari Shavit’s My Promised Land. In 2018, Natan also named three Finalists for the Book Award: Jeremy Dauber’s Jewish Comedy, Ilana Kurshan’s If All the Seas Were Ink, and James Loeffler’s Rooted Cosmopolitans.

Natan supports Jewish and Israeli social innovation through funding new and emerging initiatives, leaders, and thinkers working in a variety of focus areas around the world. The shift to Natan Notable Books creates many more opportunities for Natan members and JBC to highlight vital books and authors and bring innovative and important ideas to the attention of diverse audiences.  

Twice a year, around Passover and the Jewish High Holidays, Natan will select 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 will 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 will be made up of Natan members and partners. An Advisory Committee made up of journalists, scholars, media figures, and former Book Award winners and finalists will nominate books for consideration. Publishers can also submit books for consideration.

Fall 2019 Submissions & Eligibility

There are two submission deadlines per year: January for the Passover/Spring award, and July for the High Holidays/Fall award. The submission deadline for the Fall 2019 award is July 15, 2019, for books published for the first time between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019. Submissions must be made digitally; only in rare instances can submissions be made as hard copy books. Submissions should be sent to Miri Pomerantz Dauber at the Jewish Book Council: miri@jewishbooks.org.