Zeeva Bukai is one of the shining new literary lights of 2026. Her novel "Anatomy of an Exile" won this year’s National Jewish Book Award for Debut Fiction, and her newest novel "The World Between" is another tour-de-force. In this interview, Zeeva reads from "The World Between," then discusses with Sally how she came up with the idea for that unusual novel, how it is both different and similar to “Anatomy of Exile,” her writing process, and so forth.
About Zeeva Bukai
Zeeva Bukai’s short stories have appeared in CARVE, The Master's Review, McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, December magazine, Lilith, and elsewhere. She is the recipient of the The Master’s Review Fall Fiction Prize, the Curt Johnson Prose Award, and the Lilith Fiction Award. Her work has been anthologized in Smashing The Tablets: Radical Retellings of the Hebrew Bible, Frankly Feminist: Short Stories by Jewish Women from Lilith Magazine, and Out of Many: Multiplicity and Divisions in America Today. Having earned an MFA from Brooklyn College, she also received fellowships from the Center for Fiction, Byrdcliff AIR program and Hedgebrook. You can connect with Zeeva on at ZeevaBukai.com, as well as on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
About Sally Wiener Grotta
The host of Judith Magazine’s Tell Me More, Sally Wiener Grotta (she/her), is an award-winning writer, photographer, and speaker. Her most recent book is Daughters of Eve (Bayit Publishing), an essay-based discussion workbook and journaling guide that mines the tales of biblical female archetypes to explore modern life, concerns, and crises. Her experience as a globetrotting journalist covering a wide diversity of cultures flavors her stories, art, and presentations with a sense of wonder, appreciation for human potential, and a healthy dose of common sense. Grotta is a member of the Authors Guild, the Association of Jewish Libraries and SFWA. Visit her website at SallyWienerGrotta.com and her Substack you can view episodes of her other video podcast What If? Why Not? How? plus her essays, book recommendations, poems and the occasional guest essay.)
