It was a complex task securing guests for this year’s International Writers Festival in Jerusalem, taking place May 25-28 at the city’s Mishkenot Sha’ananim cultural center.

The literary event, always a forum for in-depth discussions and conversations about Israel, the Jewish world, and the people and ideas that dwell in those spheres, has been affected by two and a half years of war and the soft cultural boycott against Israel that has taken hold amid the fighting, said Julia Fermentto-Zaisler, director of the festival, in a statement.

She said that the process of inviting guests involved delays and cancellations.

This year’s short list of eight authors includes American Jewish novelist and essayist Dara Horn, thriller writer Joseph Finder, new author Rabbi Benjamin Resnick, and Stanford University Jewish historian Steven Zipperstein, all from the US, as well as novelist Nell Zink, an American writer living in Germany, Italian author Erri De Luca, Israeli sociologist Eva Illouz and Argentine Jewish author Marcelo Birmajer.

“Israel’s standing in the world continues to affect the literary sphere,” said Fermentto-Zaisler. “Though we still hope literature can remain independent and free from political pressures, guided by the belief that literature knows no borders and should be available to all. Despite everything,........

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