A new publishing house made its New York City debut Tuesday night with a pitch for a different kind of literary establishment: one where Jewish and Israeli writers don’t have to worry that their identities or perspectives will keep their books off the shelves.

High Line Publishing Studio is the latest in a growing number of publishing ventures seeking to create space for Jewish voices amid concerns about how those writers are treated by the mainstream industry.

High Line made its American launch at Chef Eyal Shani’s Port Sa’id restaurant, following its U.K. debut last month. The new venture features two distinct imprints: Antidote Books and Odessa Editions. The latter, led by London-based editor Jacky Klein, plans to publish Jewish and Israeli fiction and nonfiction on subjects ranging from Jewish history and antisemitism to philosophy, food and culture, with a global reach through distributor Hachette. 

“We’re not aiming to be a [marginalized] publisher — both in our books or in our distribution,” Klein told Jewish Insider ahead of the launch, adding that the imprint is open to Arab Israeli writers and non-Jewish authors whose work engages meaningfully with Jewish culture, history or ideas. 

Antidote Books, led by Joel Simons, formerly of HarperCollins UK, is a nonfiction imprint looking to publish stories on technology, ethics, democracy, identity and power. 

High Line is launched by J.K. Rowling’s longtime literary agent, Neil Blair. Also helping to steer the venture’s two imprints are High Line CEO Oliver Malcolm, Senior Vice President Lindsay Gordon and Executive Chair Adam Cannon. The studio is backed by long-term investment from a coalition of publishing, media and philanthropic investors, including Blair, but operates independently of Blair’s literary and entertainment agency, The Blair Partnership.

Speaking to an invite-only crowd of journalists, philanthropists and authors — both prospective and established — Blair explained that his own frustration had inspired the venture. 

“For quite some time, I’ve sensed that something wasn’t right in the field of publishing,” Blair said, describing what he sees as a growing tendency for publishing houses in New York and London to favor authors whose perspectives align with conventional narratives. He said he had watched writers struggle to get published “not because of the quality of their writing or lack of original thinking,” but because their views did not conform to those narratives — “or perhaps their last name was Jewish or Israeli.”

Blair, who is Jewish and a self-described Zionist, said the issue got worse after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, and cited HarperCollins’ efforts to halt publication of a book by former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, as well as his difficulty finding a British publisher for released hostage Eli Sharabi’s memoir about being held captive in Gaza, even as the book found a U.S. publisher and sold hundreds of thousands of copies, he said. 

High Line’s first book published in London will be Dara Horn’s The Final Solution to the Jewish Question: A Love Story for the Living, Blair announced, describing the book’s message — that “we don’t bow to tyrants” — as aligned with the mission behind the new venture. In attendance at Tuesday’s launch was Horn, an award-winning American Jewish author whose work explores Jewish history and antisemitism. 

The launch drew a who’s who of the literary world, with publishing executives, editors and writers mingling over Shani’s signature Mediterranean dishes and toasting to the new venture with cocktails named for each imprint. In addition to Horn, spotted in the crowd was Naomi Firestone-Teeter, CEO of the Jewish Book Council; Yael Bar Tur, co-host of the “Chosen People Problems” podcast; Jewish literary consultant Erika Dreifus; and Rebbetzin Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt, a journalist and co-founder of Altneu.  

The launch comes amid a broader wave of Jewish-focused publishing ventures, including Meg Keene Books, a new fiction imprint at Wicked Son Press and Canary Publishing, a literary venture focused on Jewish and Israeli authors. The founders say they hope to address what they view as an industry-wide reluctance to publish Jewish stories, particularly those involving Israel, in the wake of Oct. 7. 

There is no reliable industry-wide figure showing what percentage of Zionist or Jewish authors have been dropped, although author Meg Keene has collected data specifically on Jewish fiction publishing, which found that between 2023 and 2024, there was a 76% decline in fiction deal announcements to large presses that mentioned Jews, Judaism or Israel. 

The name of the industry’s newest company serves as a fitting metaphor for Blair’s ambitions: The launch party took place just blocks from Manhattan’s High Line, the elevated park that inspired the name. “When you walk it, you see the city from a totally different point of view,” Blair said, adding that’s the perspective High Line Publishing hopes to bring to its authors’ stories.