Rachel Kadish (born August 12, 1969) is an American writer of fiction and non-fiction and the author of several novels and a

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

. Her novel '' The Weight of Ink'' won the National Jewish Book Award in 2017.

Personal life

Born in New York City on August 12, 1969, Kadish grew up in Westchester County, New York, where she attended middle school at Solomon Schechter School of Westchester in Hartsdale, and New Rochelle High School in New Rochelle. Kadish received an A.B. from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1991 and an M.A. from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 1994. Her novel ''Tolstoy Lied: a Love Story'' won the John Gardner Fiction Prize in 2007. Her novel, ''The Weight of Ink,'' won the National Jewish Book Award in 2017, the Julia Ward Howe Prize in 2018, and the Association of Jewish Libraries Fiction Award in 2018. She is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. She is involved in New Voices, a project using the arts to work for tolerance.

Writing career

Rachel Kadish's 2017 novel, ''The Weight of Ink'', winner of the National Jewish Book Award, is a work of

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

set in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in the 1660s and in the early twenty-first century. It tells the interwoven stories of two women: Ester Velasquez, an immigrant from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

who is permitted to scribe for a blind rabbi just before the plague hits London; and Helen Watt, an ailing historian with a love of

Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their Jewish peoplehood, nation, Judaism, religion, and Jewish culture, culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Jews originated from the Israelites and H ...

. Her short stories and

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

s have been read on US

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

and have appeared in publications including ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...

'', ''

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

'', and The Pushcart Prize Anthology. Kadish has also written in ''

Quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

'' magazine about Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

who saved her family during World War II and in ''

'' on the importance of historical fiction in illuminating forgotten history. She is a graduate of

and

Bibliography

Novels

* '' From a Sealed Room'' (2006). Boston: Houghton Mifflin * '' Tolstoy Lied: a Love Story'' (2007). Boston: Mariner Books * '' The Weight of Ink'' (2017). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Novellas

* '' I Was Here'' (2014 ebook)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kadish, Rachel 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American short story writers American women novelists American women short story writers Jewish American novelists Lesley University faculty New York University alumni Princeton University alumni Living people 1969 births American women academics 21st-century American novelists