“A Silent Moratorium”—an article released on July 9th by the literary free speech organization PEN America alleging the “rising isolation and exclusion” of Jewish and Israeli writers in American publishing—began with a striking claim: “Jerusalem-based literary agent Deborah Harris represents dozens of leading voices of Israeli literature, from established titans to debut authors of ‘literary gems.’ Her agency typically sells five to 10 literary novels a year into the United States. Since Oct. 7, 2023, they have not sold a single one.”
The problem is, that claim was false. The Deborah Harris Agency has sold at least two literary novels by Jews since October 7th, 2023, one American and one Israeli: Benjamin Resnick’s Next Stop was sold to Avid Reader and reported in Publishers Marketplace on November 9th, 2023, and Tehila Hakimi’s Hunting in America was sold to Penguin and reported on January 29th, 2024. When we asked Harris about Hakimi’s book, she at first insisted it was “sold way before the war,” but then acknowledged, in response to follow-up questioning, that it “was sold afterwards and it was a huge surprise for us.” Resnick, a Conservative rabbi, confirmed that his offer was made a few weeks after October 7th.
A closer look at the agency’s track record over the last two and half decades—gleaned from Publishers Marketplace, the agency’s own website, and our bibliographic research—suggests that the Deborah Harris Agency has not sold five to ten “literary novels” a...
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