The Jewish diaspora is vast, diverse, and full of stories. Some of the best Jewish authors in recent years have published a multitude of books about everything from love, identity, and history to crime, romance, alternate history, and what it means to come of age in the modern world. While this list is by no means complete, these Jewish authors have written some of the most fascinating and influential Jewish literature, and they represent a deep catalog of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry in a wide range of genres.
National Book Award-winning author James McBride is the ultimate multi-hyphenate. In addition to his many works of fiction, perhaps most notably his celebrated novel , he also spent years working as a reporter after graduating from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and won widespread praise for his lyrical memoir , a tribute to his mother. And to top it all off? McBride is also an incredibly talented jazz musician.
One of the greatest American novelists of the 20th century, Philip Roth was known for his probing character studies, ambitious plotting and social commentary, and provocative studies of Jewish American life, often with a blackly comic twist. Born March 19, 1933 in Newark, NJ, Roth often used his beloved city (also Audible’s proud hometown) as a setting for his work, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning , the nonfiction , and the alternate history . He passed away in 2018.
Born on August 12, 1969, Rachel Kadish is one of today’s most decorated contemporary Jewish authors. The author of both fiction and nonfiction, she won the National Jewish Book Award for , a work of historical fiction set in pre-Plague 17th-century London and the early 21st century. Her novel uses ’s famed opening line to inspire the story of a happily single, feminist scholar whose worldview is rocked by the arrival of love.
Michael Chabon, born in Washington, DC, in 1963, is the author of multiple award-winning literary and genre fiction books, in addition to his work in TV and film. His debut novel, , which he began writing as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, was released in 1988. His third novel received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2001. Chabon made the switch to genre fiction in 2007 with , an alternate history and mystery mash-up. Chabon's latest novel is . He has also worked as the showrunner of Star Trek: Picard and co-creator of the Netflix show .
