NEW YORK_ The story of a uniquely New York food item is the grand prize winner of the 2014 New York Book Festival.

Author Laura Silver’s “Knish: In Search of the Jewish Soul Food” (Brandeis University Press) is an around-the-world quest for the origins and modern-day manifestations of the knish. The iconic potato pie takes the author from Brighton Beach in Brooklyn to Eastern Europe and other points of reference for the knish. The book comes complete with recipes to make your own at home.

The unique take on a subject hiding in plain site and Silver’s engaging and thorough exploration of its history won over the judges, who were impressed with its scholarship and writing skill. Silver and other authors will be honored at a private ceremony at the Grolier Club in Manhattan on June 20.

Other winners in the competition:

HOW-TO

WINNER: Sixty-Minute Seder – Cass Yickezkale/Nellie Nechama

RUNNER-UP: My Quick Guide Through Breast Cancer – Paulette Kouffman Sherman

HONORABLE MENTIONS


POETRY

WINNER: The Beauty of the City in the Last Hour of the Night – Alexander Forbes

RUNNER-UP: The Vast Unknowing – Nancy Shiffrin

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Amores De Tarde – Issamary Simmons Benavides
  • But By The Chance of War – Richard C. Lyons
  • Crazy Lesbo Poetry – Samm Panos
  • Take This Journey With Me – John Turner
  • The Space Between – Anna Elkins


COOKBOOKS

WINNER: Knish – In Search of the Jewish Soul Food – Laura Silver

RUNNER-UP: The Butcher, The Baker, The Wine & Cheese Maker – Jennifer Schell

HONORABLE MENTION:

  • Gluten-Free Breakfast, Brunch & Beyond - Linda J. Amendt


SPIRITUAL

WINNER: Destination Oneness – Paul Spremulli

RUNNER-UP: The First Rose of Summer – Eileen Parsons

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • The Rockin’ Chair – Steven H. Manchester
  • A Shot and a Prayer – Ryan Murphy
  • Fishing with Faith – Gina Devries
  • Alter Your Reality – Sharmila Rao
  • Human Natures of Animal and Spiritual – Carroll Blair
  • The Rainbow Bridge to Inner Peace – Brent Hunter
  • The Healing Path Home – Jeanne Selander Miller
  • God Called – Hank Leo, Jr.
  • My Extraordinary Life – Monica Sucha Vickers
  • Five Ways to Renew Your Spirit and Bring Peace… - Wyshika L. Gibson
  • Sex, Lies & Alibis: Exposing the Game to Transform Relationships - L. Dwain Boswell
  • 40 Days, 40 Conversations with God – Janelle T. Lee Chee


SCIENCE FICTION

WINNER: The Fountain of Youth – Jonathan Maas

RUNNER-UP: Thin Skinned Soul Pinned _ Mila Ballentine

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Among the Veils – Bret Sweet
  • The Borealis Genome – Tom and Nancy Wise
  • The Emancipation of Abraham Lincoln XL-3000… - Robert W. Bly
  • Return of the Dragons: Hidden Magic – Kenneth Kappelman
  • Come Hell or High Water – Stephen Morris
  • Unison – Eleni Papanou


GENERAL FICTION

WINNER: Sutton Place – Louise Gaylor

RUNNER-UP: Favors & Lies – Mark Gilleo

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Drinking from a Bitter Cup – Angela Jackson-Brown
  • Dogs on Main Street – Cliff Fazzolari
  • The Escort Diaries – Rose Burke
  • I Was A Pilot For The Mob – David Samuels
  • The Price of Guilt – Patrick Garry
  • Fire & Water – Betsy Graziani Fasbinder
  • Promise to Pay the Borrower – Page Martin
  • Dragon Bones – D.A. Winstead
  • Julia & Rodrigo – Mark Brazaitis
  • The Whip – Karen Kondazian
  • Strum – Nancy Young
  • If Two Are Dead – M. Arvid Ellison
  • Singing to the Lions – Robert A. Gisclair
  • No Ballyhood - Mauro Mevlud Martino
  • Helen of Troy – Tess Collins
  • On Anvil – Jim Herity
  • The Maya Papyrus – Ric Coady
  • Street Stories NYC Ambulance Tales – Michael Night
  • A Prayer Heeded: A Prayer Series II – Samreen Ahsan
  • It Burns a Lovely Light – Penny M. Pennington
  • Shattered Triangle – William Messenger
  • The Silver Spoon – K.T. Archer
  • Casablanca Connection – Barrie E. Little-Gill
  • Liquid Gold – Owen Sullivan
  • Searching for Ever Land – Karen Sloan-Brown
  • Black Void – James Eugene
  • The Art Procurer – Jeff Ridenour
  • A Vision of Angels – Timothy J. Smith
  • Jackie – Samuel C. Newsome
  • The Smoking Contest – Norman Keifetz
  • Efraim’s Eye – William Peace


GENERAL NON-FICTION

WINNER: Salt Sugar Fat – Michael Moss

RUNNER-UP: Young Soldiers Amazing Warriors – Robert Sholly

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • The Power of Urgency – William Keiper
  • The Wine Region of Rioja – Ana Fabiano
  • The Imagine Project – Dianne Maroney
  • Hope Into Practice – Penny Rosenwasser
  • Eyewitness to History – Robert Schrage
  • Parents in Highschoolland – Karyn Rashoff
  • Four Quadrant Living – Dina Colman
  • Smoking: How To Quit, Why to Quit… - Muriel Crawford
  • Fibromyalgia and Other Painful Chronic Conditions – Dr. Jeffrey Loomer
  • The Bath Date – Paulette Kouffman Sherman
  • Reflection: What A Difference A Day Makes – Karen Sloan-Brown
  • Did I Die? – Glenn and Gail Matthews
  • Conversations with Women: The Journey Toward Self… - Deb Pavlico
  • Return to Order – John Horvat II


CHILDREN’S BOOKS

WINNER: It Only Takes One Friend – Robin Taylor-Chiarello

RUNNER-UP: Guardian of Dreams: A Bedtime Story – Wendy Torrel

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Under the Rainbow – Katherine Reynolds
  • The Princess Fables – Marc Clark
  • Boston, You’re My Home – Suzie Canale
  • Bucket Filling from A to Z – Carol McCloud/Caryn Butzke
  • The Missing Mommy Cure – Midge Leavey
  • Higgledy Piggledy: A Tale of Four Little Pigs – B. Seymour Rabinovitch
  • Journey to the River of Perfumes - Debbie Doctofsky-Solomon
  • The Legend of Ice Cream Island – J.A. D’marco
  • The Pink Cat in the Window – Catherine Elio
  • My Alphabet Nightmare – Lozetta Hayden
  • Cecilia and the Wish Tree - Natia Makatsaria
  • Sophie and the Finn – J. Peter Clifford
  • Passports and Postcards – Sandy Pugh
  • Teddy Visits the Dentist – Elizabeth Mahadeo
  • My Bonus Mom – Tami Butcher
  • The Tiny Tomato and his Terrific Manners – Barbara Prignano
  • Moore Field School and the Mystery – Liam Moser
  • Porcupine Penny – Beth-Ann Belthoff
  • A Midnight Song – C.L. Peck
  • Take a Peek with Peek-a-Bear – Jill Mangel Weisfeld
  • Gabby Goes to New York City – Christina Saliba
  • Arlo Goes to the Farmer’s Market – Karisa Lowe
  • Mommy, What is a CEO? – Angela Harris
  • Superhero Tracker Club – Finity Frost
  • The First Birthday Party – Keith Johnson
  • A Promise is a Promise – Andy and Christina Sussman
  • Animals in My Hair – Mili Fay
  • My Alphabet Nightmare – Lozetta Hayden
  • The Fabulous Friendship of Bumble and bug – Kathy Taber-Montgomery
  • Diamond Island – Linh Giang
  • The Shape Family Babies – Kristin Haas


BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY

WINNER: A Polish Doctor in the Nazi Death Camps – Barbara Rylko-Bauer

RUNNER-UP: Pink Triangle – Darwin Porter/Danforth Prince

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Don’t Call me Mother – Linda Joy Myers
  • Tears For My City – Dean Dimitrieski
  • Double Happiness – Tony Brasunas
  • Tasting Home – Judith Newton
  • Cry the Darkness – Donna Friess
  • A Surgeon’s Story: The Autobiography of Robert T. Morris – Roger Gosden/Pam Walker
  • Quest for Flight – Craig Harwood/Gary Fogel
  • From Farmer to F.A.M.E. – Patty Cyrus
  • America’s Got Talent Winner Landau – Landau Eugene Murphy Jr./Rick Robinson
  • Death at 40: Memoir of a Struggling Christian – Cheryl Shaffer
  • A Lady in France – Jennie Goutet
  • Actor, Writer, Whatever… - Mellini Kantayya


YOUNG ADULT

WINNER: Lady Unveiled – Pamela Bauer Mueller

RUNNER-UP: Passing Through the Gate- David R. Girard

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • The Binding – Kimberly J. Rosengrant
  • Exit Point – A Hidden Secrets Novel – Alicia Sanftleben
  • Donor 23 – Cate Campbell Beatty
  • Double A Blues – Patrick Rockenbach
  • 84 Ribbons – Paddy Eger
  • Death at Carp High – Jeremy Gold
  • Saving Baby Doe – Danette Vigilante
  • Mall Pirates: A New Beginning – Anthony James
  • Iron Shinto – Patricia Stewart Shiu
  • Saving Dr. Block – L.M. Vincent
  • Wizdom and Pandora – K.M. Woodard
  • Better Left Buried – Belinda Frisch
  • Circumstellar – J.W. Lolite
  • A Healing Heart – Melissa Hanson
  • Disaster Handbook – Robert Brown Butler


WILD CARD

WINNER: L’Amour’s Law of the Desert Born – Beau L’Amour, Katherine Nolan, et. al

RUNNER-UP: Words and Guitar: A History of Lou Reed’s Music – Bill Brown

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Endangered Eagle – Richard Carl Roth
  • Intentional Spirits – Bonnie Meroth/Debbie Pinet
  • The Cemetary of Hearts – R. David Fulcher
  • A Cowgirl Always Gets Even – Dawn Nelson
  • An Animal Life – the Beginning – Howard Krum
  • Descended from the Gods – David Ritchey
  • Organs – Deckle McLean
  • Murder in the Haunted House – Carol Lee Owen
  • Baseball: Hidden Truths – Antonio Cruz
  • Adventure Inward: A Risk Taker’s… - Jonathan Wunrow
  • Meditations of a Modern Mystic – Maureen Doerken
  • Truth Be Told: Adam Becomes Audrey – Alexandra Bogdanovic
  • Wounded – Ben Burgess


BUSINESS

WINNER: Hunting in a Farmer’s World – John F. Dini

RUNNER-UP: Peer to Peer Leadership – Mila Baker

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • UNIQUE: How Story Sparks Diversity, Inclusion… - Sylvia LaFair
  • Our Best Tomorrow – Lauren Hudson and Robert D. Hudson
  • InvestorWiz! – S. Gazelle
  • Trends, Waves, Windows and Bubbles – Kenneth Thurber
  • Displacement Day – Thomas Dowd


COMPILATIONS/ANTHOLOGIES

WINNER: Beyond a Dark Door – K. Patrick Malone

RUNNER-UP: A Slant of Light – Lawrence Carr/Jan Z. Schmidt

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • You Are Here: The WriteGirl Journey – edited by Keren Taylor
  • Seasons of Our Lives: Winter – Matilda Butler
  • Girls Right Now New Worlds 2013 Anthology – various authors
  • Breadcrumbs for Beginners – Dr. Sherry L. Meinberg


ROMANCE

WINNER: Skeeter Hawk – Hubert R. Stokes

RUNNER-UP: The Heart of Hannen – Book I – Fawn Bonning

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • The Leader of Lors – Book II – Fawn Bonning
  • A Silent Prayer – Samreen Ahsan
  • Pressed Pennies – Steven H. Manchester
  • In the Spirit of Revenge – Lynn Borderie


PHOTOGRAPHY/ART

WINNER: Once Upon an Island – Richard Quinney

RUNNER-UPS:

  • merica in Color – Brian Dailey
  • Louis L’Amour’s Law of the Desert Born - Beau L’Amour, Katherine Nolan, et. al