Winners of the Barry Prize for Political Creation Announced
The Berl Katznelson Foundation has announced the first winners of the Barry Prize for Political Creation, a new literary prize established following the cancellation of the Ministry of Culture's awards. Dr. Keren Dotan won the prize for an academic manuscript, Tamar Verta-Zahavi won the prize for democratic children's literature, and Amichai Fisher and Dr. Aviv Cohen received continuation grants.
The Berl Katznelson Foundation has announced the first winners of the Barry Prize for Political Creation, a new literary prize established in January 2026 following the cancellation of literary awards by the Ministry of Culture and Sports. The prize aims to support literary works dealing with political, social, cultural, moral, and historical issues. Dr. Keren Dotan won the prize for an academic manuscript (40,000 shekels). Her manuscript challenges the notion that emotions interfere with political discourse, focusing on seven essays dedicated to the emotions stirred by the crisis-ridden reality of recent years, culminating in the October 7 massacre and the subsequent war. Tamar Verta-Zahavi won the prize for democratic children's literature (20,000 shekels) for her book "Even Toys Can Bring Down a Dictator," based on a true event that took place in Russia in 2012. The winning manuscripts will be published by "Ofek" Publishing, founded by the foundation. Continuation grants (20,000 shekels) were awarded to Amichai Fisher for his book "Morality Under Fire" (Kinneret Zmora Dvir Publishing, 2026) and Dr. Aviv Cohen for "A Homeland Is Not an Altar" (Pardes Publishing, 2025). Fisher seeks to formulate a new conceptual framework for understanding Israeli politics, while Cohen focuses on protest movements against the First Lebanon War.