When Fact Becomes Fiction: Bringing history to life

The scale of history can be overwhelming. Fiction allows us to focus on the individual. Our panel of Australian Jewish authors has recently published four acclaimed novels all with Jewish protagonists. A life in middle-class Vienna upended by the Great War; a woman leading an extraordinary spy ring in Palestine; a self-effacing Japanese diplomat saving Jews in the next war; a thriller set during the Cold War in the Soviet Union.

Supported by Golda’s Girls – in memory of Golda Isaac

This event is proudly supported by:

Golda’s Girls

Artists

Diane Armstrong

Diane Armstrong is a child Holocaust survivor from Poland who arrived in Australia with her parents in 1948. She is an award-winning journalist and best-selling author. Her first book, Mosaic, was short-listed for several major Australian literary awards. The Voyage of their Life was short-listed for the NSW Premier’s Award. Her first novel, Winter Journey,…

Julia Levitina

Julia Levitina grew up in Moscow with her Ukrainian Jewish mother and grandmother, who were both Holocaust survivors. She studied design and worked as a theatre designer before immigrating to Australia in 1991 with two children and $200 to her name. Julia completed a Masters of Theatre Design at University of Technology, Sydney. While teaching…

Linda Margolin Royal

Linda Royal was born in Sydney. Her family received life-saving transit visas from Chiune Sugihara in 1940, allowing them to escape the Holocaust – and find a permanent, safe home in Australia in 1941. The remainder of her family, numbering in the hundreds, were murdered. Her debut novel, The Star on the Grave, historical fiction…

Joe Reich

Dr Joe Reich is the author of five novels and a cowritten biography. His most recent books are historical fiction. In Ein Stein (2021) the elderly unreliable protagonist has lived as a holocaust survivor for many years. Beyond Berggasse (2023) takes us back to the glittering Vienna of the turn of the last century through…