Fig Tree Books Blog

Our blog features essays, book reviews, coverage of FTB titles, and noteworthy news of American Jewish experience by our publisher.

Reporting Antisemitism in the Literary World | Jewish Book Council

Posted on June 3, 2026

Jewish Book Council is dedicated to supporting and up‐lifting Jewish and Jewish-interest books and authors through marketing and editorial endeavors, education, and networking. JBC aims to be a comprehensive resource throughout an author’s career and experiences in the Jewish literary world. To this end, with the rise of antisemitic incidents internationally, JBC has launched an […]

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Building a Future for Jewish Writers

Posted on May 5, 2026

When mainstream literary spaces shut us out, Jewish authors are creating our own magazines, conferences, and platforms. By Howard Lovy Elissa Wald (left): “We need a strong, supportive community.” Erika Dreifus (right): “I ruled out the ‘do nothing’ option.” Before October 7, 2023, Elissa Wald was perfectly happy in her career as a ghostwriter, using […]

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Facing Antisemitism and Exclusion, Jewish Authors Get a Lifeline

Posted on April 1, 2026

Author Gilly Segal, left, interviews literary agent Rena Rossner, center, and rabbi and author Angela Buchdahl at the Artists Against Antisemitism 2025 Jewish Writers Mifgash, Sept. 14, 2025. (Photo credit: Rebecca J. Michelson) Elana Sztokman | JTA Susan Blumberg-Kason, a Jewish author whose work explores Jewish history and identity, was deep into a book about […]

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The Jewish Slant Is Flatlining In Book World

Posted on March 2, 2026

By Michael Gold Selling an agent on work with a Jewish slant is tough, but “not impossible,” my Jewish thesis advisor at City College told me recently, as I polished the work for her final read-through. Not exactly encouraging words. My manuscript’s main character starts off as a ten-year-old boy, precociously reading books on the […]

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Antisemitism in Publishing: These Authors are Writing on Their Own Terms

Posted on February 3, 2026

by Leah Grossman Jewish authors silenced by publishers are reclaiming their voices—transforming rejection into resilience, solidarity, and bestselling works that refuse to bow to hate. It’s no secret that anti-Jewish hate has infiltrated the publishing industry since October 7, 2023. Jewish authors have been blacklisted, dropped from their publishers, targeted in coordinated campaigns to review-bomb […]

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The Dawn of the Postliterate Society

Posted on January 6, 2026

            The smartphone hasn’t just distracted us. It’s dismantled the habits of thought that built our civilization. By James Marriott 10.23.25 It’s no secret that young people today are desperate for meaning. A recent report found that 58 percent of young adults experienced little or no sense of purpose in their lives over […]

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We are No Longer Welcome

Posted on December 2, 2025

This piece is part of the Jewish Book Council’s Wit­ness­ing series, which shares pieces from Israeli authors and authors in Israel, as well as the expe­ri­ences of Jew­ish writ­ers around the globe in the after­math of Octo­ber 7th. It is crit­i­cal to under­stand his­to­ry not just through the books that will be writ­ten lat­er, but […]

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The Spy Who Stayed Out of the Heat

Posted on November 5, 2025

The spy who stayed out of the heat Daniel Silva struck publishing gold with his overtly Israeli secret agent Gabriel Allon, but after October 7, that fictional spy’s file was inappropriately redacted AUG 5, 2025 Some of the many published books by Daniel Silva. For 26 years, readers have thrilled to the exploits of Gabriel Allon, […]

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The White Man Who Pretended to Be Black to Get Published

Posted on October 3, 2025

A young poet pretended to be ‘a gender-fluid member of the Nigerian diaspora,’ and wrote intentionally bad poems. He says he got 47 of them published. But soon his prank spiraled out of control. By River Page 07.16.25  What you’re about to read is a poem. Its title is unmentionable, but I can tell you […]

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The Death and Life of the Straight White Man’s Novel

Posted on September 4, 2025

The seeming decline of a certain type of novelist is much discussed and debated in the literary world.  But the bigger question is whether it matters. By Marc Tracy July 3, 2025 A Los Angeles father, once an aspiring screenwriter and now a professional ticket-scalper, spends his spare hours calculating the extent to which younger […]

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