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The “People of the Book” aren’t getting much love these days.
Since Oct. 7, hundreds of Jewish writers discovered if they were slapped with the epithet of “Zionist” that their careers would be over. There was even a viral, vile campaign “Is your fav author a zionist?” meant to whip up antisemitism and boycotts akin to a modern-day book burning.
A free speech organization committed to protecting writers “at risk” and combating censorship and book bans erupted in scandal after it published a damning report that Jewish and Israeli writers faced “a range of threats and repercussions.” Its own president, who couldn’t align with a resounding opposition to cultural boycotts, resigned from PEN America in protest.
Jewish authors have been “review bombed” — had their books flooded with awful reviews — and been told to scrub Jewish characters and references to Israel.
The mob’s been missing the plot, and literary luminary Neil Blair — J.K. Rowling’s longtime agent — has had enough.
In October, Blair founded High Line Publishing Studio, whose aim is to support a diversity of voices and reject the groupthink that’s become so pervasive in the publishing industry.
“It’s really what publishing was always supposed to be — freedom of speech across the whole spectrum,” Blair, determined to rewrite the rules, told The Post. “It is a welcoming place for a number of categories of people, opinions and voices that unfortunately have been canceled right now” and includes “gender-critical” writers and those on the right and even the left.
“If we create a society where the only books that are being published perform to the point of view” of ideological zealots, said Blair, “it’s worse than sad. It’s dangerous.”
High Line will have two divisions: Odessa Editions, which will elevate Jewish and Israeli voices, and Antidote Books, a place for bold nonfiction writers.
Odessa editor Jacky Klein said she’s been “deluged” with hundreds of submissions — some from established authors who’ve lost their agent in the new climate.
“I wish High Line wasn’t needed,” said Blair.
One of the biggest challenges for Jewish authors of late has been attaining and keeping literary agents. As an ADL report detailed, “Jewish, Israeli and Zionist authors described being told directly that their Jewish or Zionist identity, not the quality of their work, made them ‘too risky’ to represent.”
Literary agent and bestselling author Jamie Brenner felt a “creeping understanding” that Jewish writers were vulnerable — being silenced, shamed and marginalized, and not knowing who to trust.
She took a break from representation, but returned this fall with a commitment to have “clients’ backs.” Her goal is to “support writers in being unapologetically Jewish in their books and on social media.”
High Line is the latest entry in a flurry of new publishers meant to support the next Bernard Malamud or Saul Bellow.
Veteran journalist and editor Howard Lovy announced his Canary Publishing this summer, meant to be a home for “authentic Jewish voices” and those “whose work was dropped, sidelined, or turned away by mainstream publishing.”
Wicked Son is the fledgling publisher co-founded in 2022 by Adam Bellow, the son of “Herzog” literary legend Saul Bellow.
The edgy publisher’s newest imprint seeks to counter the “overt hostility” plaguing Jewish and Israeli writers whose “extraordinary books” have been shunned by mainstream publishing.
Meg Keene launched her own imprint this summer, Meg Keene Books. She discovered an 82 percent dropoff in the publication of Jewish fiction since Oct. 7 based on an index of reported book deals.
“We intend to publish those books and champion those authors — but it will take the whole community to make Jewish fiction thrive,” she said.
Her imprint’s first acquisition is Howard Jacobson’s “hOWL,” the British author’s darkly funny and poignant response to Oct. 7 and the avalanche of ensuing antisemitism. Jacobson was outspoken in his rejection of the literary boycott against Israelis signed by 1,000 authors, including Irish bestseller Sally Rooney. Despite the success of his 2010 Booker Prize-winning “The Finkler Question,” Jacobson couldn’t find an American publisher until Keene stepped in.
“As an agent, I never experienced any blatant antisemitic bias before Oct 7,” said 20-year NYC lit agent, Lisa Leshne. “Now, what editors who I have known and respected are willing to put in print is shocking and devastating.
“If those at the top who are controlling what kinds of books are even being published, how are you ever going to learn and understand other points of view?”
Powerhouse Jewish author Lisa Barr, an outspoken advocate, lamented her whiplash most days after being violently threatened, blacklisted and review-bombed. But the industry turning the page on hate is encouraging. “When I see these new publishing houses sprouting up, it’s saying, ‘We’re not just going to take it, we’re going to pivot.’”
The hypocrisy of today’s climate — tantamount to “literary Nuremberg Laws,” the laws enacted to exclude Jews from society — is rich, blasted publishing insider Shira Dicker.
“You look at the history of literature” in this country, recalling the likes of Henry Roth and Philip Roth, “and the Jews are at the epicenter, creating the contemporary novel.”
Defiant authors refuse to become a footnote to the industry they helped build. No matter what lies ahead, these dauntless writers will never allow themselves to be written out of the story.
