Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Opinion Editor Sigal Samuel Honored With Canadian Literary Prize

“The Mystics of Mile End,” by The Forward’s opinion editor Sigal Samuel, will receive the Canadian Jewish Literary Award for Best Novel. At a gala awards ceremony to be held on October 30, 2016 at York University, Samuel will be honored along with such authors as Agata Tuszyńska and Sarah Philips Casteel.

“‘The Mystics of Mile End,’ a first novel by former Montrealer Sigal Samuel, captures the spirit of the duality of one of the world’s most vibrant neighborhoods,” the judges wrote. “At once an exploration of Kabbalah, queer culture and physics, the book is a family saga that grapples with the tensions between science and faith. To discover a new writer with so much talent and potential is a singular thrill.”

“I’m thrilled to receive this award, and especially grateful that the judges gave a special shout-out to the aspect of the novel dealing with queer culture,” Samuel said. “It’s great to see a Jewish awards panel recognizing the value of telling LGBTQ stories within our community — that’s not something to be taken for granted. I’m also happy that the judges seemed to enjoy the aspects of the novel dealing with Kabbalah and physics.”

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.