Israeli Author Etgar Keret Wins 2016 Charles Bronfman Prize

Posted on June 12, 2016

Israeli author Etgar Keret has won the 2016 Charles Bronfman Prize. He will receive a cash prize of $100,000. The award was given in "recognition of his work conveying Jewish values across cultures and imparting a humanitarian vision throughout the world." Keret, 48, writes short stories, graphic novels and television shows. His work is known worldwide, and has been published in 46 countries. His stories have appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Zoetrope and on National Public Radio.

The Prize was established in 2004 by Ellen Bronfman Hauptman and Stephen Bronfman, to honor their father Charles Bronfman. The annual prize celebrates the vision and endeavor of an individual or team under the age of 50 whose humanitarian work is inspired by Jewish values and whose accomplishments are of universal benefit. The prize has gone to scientists, doctors, philanthropists and non profit founders.

Mr. Keret said, “There are many Jewish values that affect my work, but the one that I find central is questioning. Jewish heroes share a passion to think and challenge, and not follow anyone blindly. Abraham, Moses, Job, Jonah and many other Jewish role models did not hesitate to argue about what they thought right; even with God himself.

"The tradition of studying sacred texts with a partner (Hevruta) is another manifestation of the importance of questioning. The best way to learn a text is through arguing about its meaning with another person. The value of critical thought is of great moral importance. It doesn't excuse us at any moment from contemplating our decisions and assuming full responsibility for them.

"When I write I try not to preach to my readers but to put them in front of a text presenting an incomplete world, thus turning the reading process itself into a Hevruta study."

His short story collections in English include The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God & Other Stories, The Nimrod Flipout, Missing Kissinger, The Girl On The Fridge, (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), Four Stories (Syracuse University Press), A Moonless Night and Suddenly, a Knock on the Door (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux). His memoir, Seven Good Years was published by Riverhead Press in 2015. He wrote a children's book called Dad Runs Away With The Circus (Candlewick Press).