“Can a Literary Mafia Affect Your Choice of Books?”: Jews, Publishing, and American Literature

Josh Lambert, Wellesley College

In the 1960s and 1970s, many American authors, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, complained about a “Jewish literary mafia.” While perniciously circulating antisemitic ideas, such claims also reflected the remarkable success of Jews in the U.S. publishing industry. How did Jews’ roles in publishing influence the development of American literature? How can attention to this story help to produce a more equitable industry now?

This is a hybrid event. Register for the virtual stream here: https://myumi.ch/kyJmr

Josh Lambert is the Sophia Moses Robison Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and English, and director of the Jewish Studies Program, at Wellesley College. He did his undergraduate work at Harvard and his doctorate at the University of Michigan, and before Wellesley he taught at NYU, UMass Amherst, and Princeton, and served as the Academic Director of the Yiddish Book Center. His books include Unclean Lips: Obscenity, Jews, and American Culture (2014) and, co-edited with Ilan Stavans, How Yiddish Changed America and How America Changed Yiddish (2020).