Yiddish novelist and journalist. The younger brother of Israel Joshua Singer (the brothers were sons and grandsons of Hasidic rabbis), he was born in Poland and in 1935 he settled in New York, where he joined the staff of the Jewish Daily Forward. Beginning in the 1950’s, several novels, collections of short stories, volumes of memoirs, and children’s books written by Singer in Yiddish have appeared in English translations. His stories deal mostly with mysticism, love, and the conflict between piety and enlightenment; their settings are in Eastern Europe and the U.S. His novels include The Family Moskat, In My Father’s Court, The Manor, The Estate, and Shosha. His short story anthologies include The Spinoza of Market Street, Short Friday, and A Crown of Feathers. Among his children’s books is Zlateh the Goat. His play, Yentl, was produced on Broadway in 1975. He was awarded the 1978 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Older brother of Isaac Bashevis Singer, he is best known for his play Yoshe Kalb and his epic novel The Brothers Ashkenazi.