Jordan Salama, the winner of the Peter Gilbert Prize for his writing in JR, arrives in the UK this spring for events in London and Cambridge

The American writer Jordan Salama, whose book Stranger in the Desert: A Family Story, traced his Syrian family's experience in Argentina, has been announced as the winner of the Peter Gilbert Prize. Salama is the second recipient of the biannual prize, which was set up by JR and the interfaith Woolf Institute in Cambridge to acknowledge the writer of the best recent article in JR magazine.

Salama's winning piece, published in JR's Spring 2024 issue, follows the journey of his great-grandfather Selim Salama, a Syrian Jewish immigrant to Argentina who, in the 1920s, peddled his wares in a horsedrawn cart across the Andes.

To mark the award, Salama will be giving a public lecture about the experience of South American Jewish immigrants at the Woolf Institute on 4 March.

*Photo of Jordan from Stranger in the Desert, courtesy of Jordan Salama*

The award was established by Woolf supporter Adam Glinsman, and named after his much-loved uncle. The first award winner was the American novelist Shalom Auslander, who visited the UK to accept the prize in 2024.

Salama will also be in the UK for a JR event at Jewish Book Week at London's Kings Place, where he will be in discussion with the Guatemalan novelist Eduardo Halfon. The session is one of many JR events taking place during JBW. Others include Short Stories on the Shoah: From Behind the Iron Curtain (1 March), The Future of Jewish Art (8 March) and a walking tour, Jewish Stories in the Square Mile (5 March).

By Rebecca Taylor

Header photo by Gaston Zilberman

Jordan Salama will give the Peter Gilbert Prize lecture on Wednesday 4 March. 5pm. KC Shasha Suite, Woolf Institute, Cambridge, CB3 0UB. Find details on our events page about the Peter Gilbert Prize talk and JR at Jewish Book Week.

This article appears in the Winter 2026 issue of JR.