In the wake of accusations of antisemitism in the British political sphere, four writers explore the portrayal of Jews in American literature and ask how such evocations might affect social perceptions. Zachary Leader is the biographer of Saul Bellow, whose Herzog and Sammler acquired iconic status. Devorah Baum lectures at the University of Southampton and is the author of the forthcoming Feeling Jewish, which wrestles with the emotions of Philip Roth’s characters among many others – as well as her own. Howard Jacobson is the Man Booker Prize-winning author of The Finkler Question. His novels, including The Mighty Walzer and Kalooki Nights, have put perceptions of and by Jewish characters centre-stage. The conversation is chaired by Adam Thirlwell, novelist and London editor of the Paris Review.

We are grateful to the Hawthornden Charitable Trust for sponsoring this event