Books with themes as diverse as the Russian Empire and climate change are part of the long-list for the 2021 Wingate Literary Prize.

Four novels and eight non-fiction works are in the running for the 44th annual prize, run in association with JW3 and worth £4,000 to the winner. 

They are: Jewish Treasures from Oxford Libraries  by Rebecca Abrams and  César Merchán-Hamann: The Guest Book by Sarah Blake; Survivors by Rebecca Clifford; House of  Glass by Hadley Freeman; On Division by Goldie Goldbloom; The Slaughterman's Daughter by Yaniv Iczkovits; Nobody Will Tell You This But Me by Bess Kalb; Apeirogon by Colum McCann; When Time Stopped by Ariana Neumann; We are the Weather by Jonathan Safran Foer; Along the Amber Route: St Petersburg to Venice by CJ Schüler; and We Fight Fascists by Daniel Sonabend.                                 

The judging panel is chaired by former Reform Judaism senior rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner and also includes broadcaster, writer and film-maker Bidisha; author and Economist magazine culture editor AD Miller and award-winning biographer and historian Anne Sebba.

Rabbi Janner-Klausner said: “Wingate is about exploring Judaism in a way that is interesting and accessible to the general reader and I believe the long-list reflects this, with a healthy balance of different themes among the 12 books.

“We have chosen authors from the UK, America and Israel and themes which are contemporary, historical, Holocaust, non-Holocaust, religious, secular, academic and Israeli – as well as a work about the environmental crisis and its relationship to Judaism.

“We feel it really is an excellent reflection of the breadth of Jewish life.”

She added: “Especially this year, such great literature provides inspiration and joy when we need it most.”

The short-list will be announced at the end of January and the winner will be announced in late-February.

Novelist Linda Grant took the 2020 prize for her "love letter to London life", A Stranger City.