Writers, Beware

Document-in-Progress (Latest Update: October 29, 2025)

Curated by Erika Dreifus (Ed.M, M.F.A., Ph.D.)

Sadly, too often within our literary and literary-adjacent communities, expressions of concern for the welfare of innocent Palestinians—concern that I, as well as the vast majority of Jewish and Israeli writers of my acquaintance, share—are compromised by both distortions of the historical record and ongoing demonization of the state of Israel, Israelis, and/or the vast majority of Diaspora Jews who are not anti-Zionists. Too frequently, such expressions cross the line and traffic in misinformation, disinformation, and outright antisemitic rhetoric and tropes. Elsewhere, a pointed absence of concern for Israeli/Jewish welfare—discernible in complete erasure of Israeli/Jewish experience—is equally problematic. All of this is upsetting and dangerous when it happens in any environment; it’s particularly painful for those of us who inhabit writing- and publishing-focused spaces where we esteem prevailing values of both allyship and, importantly, accuracy.

Alas, for many of us, encountering these toxic tendencies in literary communities is hardly new. But since October 7, these patterns have been particularly pronounced. Anyone who is troubled by their presence and amplification can choose to address them in a variety of ways.

Some may seek to attempt constructive one-to-one dialogue, privately—especially where a friendship or productive professional relationship already exists. Some, noting not only the organizational statements but also the masthead and other literary leadership positions that many open-letter signatories have opted to disclose, may simply—even silently—reconsider their own individual choices to submit work to or otherwise participate in supporting, even indirectly, certain journals, presses, or projects. And of course, as writers, we all have the capacity to share our own research, experiences, and perspectives in our own words: on social media, within our own newsletters or blogs, or within work that we pitch and publish more broadly.

Whatever your choices may be, they should be informed ones. Please consider the following publicly-available information a resource to help you as you make them.

NB: For additional background and insights into what makes the materials shared below so problematic, please consult another document-in-progress: “After October 7: Readings, Recordings, and More.” Note especially Rabbi Toby Manewith’s “Is It Antisemitism? If It Is, Now What? Guidance for a Post-October 7th World” and the Jewish Book Council’s “Reporting Antisemitism in the Literary World.”

Collective Statements

From Individual Literary (or Literary-Adjacent) Journals/Presses/Groups/Organizations/Agencies

Hard-to-Classify