Discover the longlist: Jessica Cohen, ‘Fiction is where I feel most comfortable and most creative’
The winner of the 2017 International Booker Prize discusses how she views familiarity as an asset in her work.
Jessica Cohen
Jessica Cohen is a British-Israeli-American literary translator who often works with Israeli author David Grossman.
Cohen’s translation of David Grossman’s 2014 novel A Horse Walks into a Bar was awarded the 2017 Booker International Prize. Cohen was born in Colchester, England to Stanley Cohen and Ruth Kretzmer in 1973. She moved with her family to Israel at the age of seven and went on to study English literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. After moving to the United States with her husband in 1997, she studied Middle Eastern literature and languages at Indiana University.
All nominated books
In David Grossman’s heartbreaking, visceral novel, a stand-up comedian delivers a shockingly cruel routine about guilt and betrayal. Translated by Jessica Cohen.
Translated by Jessica Cohen
Sweeping story about loving with courage that asks us to confront our deepest held beliefs about a woman's duty to herself - and to her children. Translated by Jessica Cohen.
Translated by Jessica Cohen
