Literary Powerhouse Zibby Owens Takes Aim at Antisemitism with Her New Anthology, ‘On Being Jewish Now’

Author, publisher and “bookfluencer” Zibby Owens didn’t set out to be a public face of the fight against antisemitism.

But like just about everything else, that all changed following Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

“Before October 7, I hadn’t experienced much antisemitism. Just a sprinkle of sea salt on a big buffet,” Owens writes in the introduction to “On Being Jewish Now: Reflections from Authors and Advocates,” an essay collection out this week from her publishing house, Zibby Books. “Suddenly, I became one of the many targets. I lost followers and had people attack me about my decision to withdraw from the National Book Awards when I raised valid concerns about antisemitism. My name was added to blacklists of Jewish authors.”

Not one be silent in the face of adversity, Owens — who recently published her first novel, “Blank,” and has a second one coming out next October — joined forces with other Jewish women authors to push back on what they saw as a tidal wave of anti-Jewish sentiment in the world of arts and letters. Together with some 30 writers, including Alison Hammer, Elyssa Friedland and Jill Kargman, she helped launch Artists Against Antisemitism, a group whose mission is to “raise awareness of antisemitism in the arts, promote education about Jewish history and culture, and unite the artistic community to build a kinder, brighter, more understanding future,” according to their website.

Artists Against Antisemitsm is now a 501(c)(3), but when it started last year, “it was just a group of us trying to make a difference, organizing a silent auction and just banding together to get through that time and try to help and do something,” Owens, 48, told the New York Jewish Week in a recent interview via Zoom from her Upper East Side home. “We have an Instagram group chat, which has been a lifesaver this past year.”

— Lisa Keys | New York Jewish Week