Novelist Austin Ratner (pictured, via) has won the Jewish Book Council’s  $100,000 2011 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature in fiction for his debut novel The Jump Artist (Bellevue Literary Press).

This small press has had a great year. Last April, Bellevue author Paul Harding won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel Tinkers. Runner up Joseph Skibell (A Curable Romantic) will receive the $25,000 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature Choice Award.

The three Sami Rohr Prize finalists are listed below. Here’s more about the award: “Established in 2006, the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature is the largest monetary award of its kind given to writers of exceptional talent and promise in early career.”

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RiverRun Bookstore events manager Michele Filgate has earned a spot on New Hampshire Magazine’s ‘It List‘ for her unexpected contribution to a Pulitzer Prize win. She joins corporate executives, an actor, and a judge on the prestigious list.

When Paul Harding won the Pulitzer Prize for Tinkers,  Filgate  found out she had played a role in the win. It’s an inspiring story, showing how indie publishers and booksellers touch readers every day.

Check it out: “It could be a plot line in a book, though it does stretch credulity a bit. An indie bookstore employee reads a little-known book that becomes her favorite book ever. Soon after she’s at a book reviewers workshop and mentions the book (nay, sings its praises) to the workshop leader. It just so happens the workshop leader is the chairwoman of that year’s Pulitzer Prize jury in the fiction category. The book wins the Pulitzer.”

There are lots of great literary events to enjoy and some have been rounded-up in today’s Booked feature.

Frank Bidart reads at the 56th Annual Poetry Day on Thursday, October 14th starting at 6pm. Admission is free of charge. (Chicago, IL)

Author C.M. Mayo reading from her novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, at the College of Southern Maryland Leonardtown campus auditorium. Friday, October 15th starting at at 7:30pm. (La Plata, MD)

The Happy Ending Reading Series is hosting a special event entitled “Ghosts and Curses” at Mass MoCA on Saturday, October 30th from 8pm-10pm. The authors who will appear include Paul Harding, Jim Shepard, and Kristin Hersh who performs double-duty as both a reader and musical entertainment for the evening. The music video for her song, In Shock is embedded above. (North Adams, MA)

To get your events posted, visit our Facebook Your Next Literary Event page for more information.

Today Paul Harding won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel Tinkers, a major award for an indie press operated out of the Bellevue Hospital Center.

The other finalists were Love in Infant Monkeys by Lydia Millet (Soft Skull Press) and In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin (W.W. Norton & Company). Here are the rest of the Letters, Drama and Music winners:

History–Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed (The Penguin Press)

Biography–The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T.J. Stiles (Alfred A. Knopf)

Poetry–Versed by Rae Armantrout (Wesleyan University Press)

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The Center for Fiction has announced the five finalists for the $10,000 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.

The prize–once known as the John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize–went to Hannah Tinti last year for her novel, “The Good Thief.” The Center was founded in 1820 as the Mercantile Library (pictured). The 2009 finalists are: “American Rust” by Philipp Meyer from Spiegel & Grau; “The Cradle” by Patrick Somerville from Little, Brown and Co.; “Tinkers” by Paul Harding from Bellevue Literary Press; “The Vagrants” by Yiyun Lin from Random House; and “Woodsburner” by John Pipkin from Doubleday/Nan A. Talese.

Here’s more from the release: “Librarians, staff, and members of The Center first read submissions and the recommendations of these Common Readers, as they are called, are then forwarded to a committee of distinguished American writers. This committee selects the novels on the short list and the winner.”