Pushcart XLIV: Special Mention

A few years ago, I wrote a short story that takes place in 19th century Poland. It is a story about a young Jewish boy who decides to become a vegetarian. One complicating factor is that he is the only son of the town’s ritual slaughterer; the other complicating factor is Satan. When I finished the story, I faced a difficulty. Who would publish it? The answer was Image Journal.

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I am pleased to say that the story earned “Special Mention” in the Pushcart Prize XLlV: Best of the Small Presses 2020 Edition. I am very grateful to Mary Kenagy Mitchell, Executive Editor at Image, for her assistance in bringing the story to publication.

Here is the first sentence of the story: “IN THE AUTUMN OF 1854, in the village of Grezhiv, in what was then known as the Congress Kingdom of Poland, Yoineh Bodek, aged six, in his second year of cheder, decided to become a vegetarian.”

If you would like to read the story, you can do so here.

All the best,
Gershon