Born in Melbourne to Yiddish-speaking Polish Jews of the Holocaust generation, Anna Epstein’s interest in the plight of those fleeing misfortune was awakened early. Anna worked for twenty years as editor and curator at the Jewish Museum of Australia. Lately she has worked mainly for the Yiddish cultural centre, Kadimah.

In her book chat, Anna explores her work of non-fiction — Melekh Ravitsh: The Eccentric Outback Quest of an Urbane Yiddish Poet from Poland. What was Melekh Ravitsh’s outback quest, and how much did the How much did the modernist art of Yosl Bergner, Ravitsh’s son, influence her decision to write the story?