The 2023 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish literature is awarded to Iddo Gefen for Jerusalem Beach, a book of short stories that draws on the Israeli writer’s personal background as a neurocognitive researcher. Also honored is the book’s English translator, Daniella Zamir, the first time the prize committee has honored a translator, a sign that the prize is expanding to include non-English-language works.

Gefen is a PhD student at Columbia University, researching how storytelling can improve understanding of the human mind.

The Sami Rohr Prize, named for the businessman and philanthropist who died in 2012, was established in 2006 by his children in honor of his 80th birthday. The award comes with a $100,000 cash prize, of which Gefen will receive $75,000, and Zamir $25,000.