Event Topic: Jewish Identity & Culture

In Miriam Sved’s book chat, the author discusses how the life of her grandmother inspired ‘A Universe of Sufficient Size’, and the process of setting a work between two very disparate locations and time periods: Budapest in the ’30s and Sydney in the early 2000s.SHOW LESS

Philip Salom has published four novels and fourteen books of poetry. In 2017 his novel, Waiting, was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award, the Prime Minister’s Award and the Victorian Premiers Prize. 

In Philip’s book chat, the award-winning author discusses his latest novel, The Returns, a story about the eccentricities, failings and small triumphs that humans are capable of.

Andrea Goldsmith is a well-known Australian novelist. Her novels include The Prosperous Thief, (short-listed for the 2003 Miles Franklin award), and The Memory Trap, awarded the 2015 Melbourne Prize.

In Andrea’s book chat, the author discusses her latest novel, Invented Lives, a story of identity and exile. How do we ‘invent’ our lives, and is it possible to be exiles within our native countries?

Dr Henry R (Harry) Lew OAM is a retired ophthalmic surgeon. In his spare time he has written a variety of non-medical books: Horace Brodzky, In Search of Derwent Lees, The Five Walking Sticks, The Stories Our Parents Found Too Painful To Tell, Lion Hearts, Smitten by Catherine and Imaging the World, which, although not a medical book, has some medical basis to it.  Henry’s book chat centres on his latest work, ‘Patterson of Israel’.

In the chat, Henry shares the story of John Henry Patterson, the non-Jewish British army officer who led the ‘Jewish Legion’ during the First World War, and explores the underexplored interactions between the ANZACS and the Jewish troops at Gallipoli and Palestine.

Ramona Koval has played many roles in the Australian literary landscape. She is a writer, journalist, editor and former broadcaster renowned for her in-depth conversations with significant writers for many years on Radio National’s ‘Books and Writing’ program. 

Ramona discusses her new book ‘A Letter to Layla’, in which she travels the world in a quest to understand our deep past — and what may be our near future. In this chat, Ramona outlines her case for optimism for the future.

Orly Castel-Bloom is the author of 11 books, and is a multi-award-winning leading voice in Hebrew literature today. Her postmodern classic Dolly City has been included in UNESCO’s Collection of Representative Works. In 2016, Orly Castle-Bloom was awarded the Sapir Prize for An Egyptian Novel, a family saga that ranges from contemporary Israel to Egypt to Inquisition-era Spain.

In this book chat, Orly discusses the complexities of balancing fact and fiction, particularly when it comes to writing family stories, and the importance of capturing the stories of our loved ones before we forget.

Nir Baram was born into a political family but turned his back on politics for a literary career. In 2010 he received the Prime Minister’s Award for Hebrew Literature. His non-fiction title Land Without Borders in 2017 was long listed for the JQ Wingate Literary Prize. His novels, The Remaker of Dreams, Good People and his latest publication, At Night’s End, were short listed for Israel’s Sapir Prize for Literature.

In his book chat, Nir explores the unique power of adolescent friendship, and discusses how award-winning translator Jessica Cohen brought ‘the music of the Hebrew’ to the English-language versions of his novels.

Ilana Kurshan has worked in literary publishing both in New York and in Jerusalem, as a translator and foreign rights agent, and is the books editor of Lilith magazine. In 2018, Kurshan was awarded the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature for All the Seas Were Ink. This engaging memoir is a celebration of renewal, through learning Talmudic literature, on how to fall in love again.

In her book chat, Ilana discusses her experience of learning the Talmud — leading to the very different and new reading she presents in her work.

Benjamin Balint is an American Israeli author, a renowned cultural journalist and the editor of Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas. He was awarded the 2020 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature for his book “Kafka’s Last Trial: The Case of a Literary Legacy.” This nonfiction work is an account of the controversial trial between Germany and Israel that determined the fate of Kafka’s unpublished manuscripts.

In his book chat, Benjamin discusses Kafka’s literary afterlife — in particular, how the author’s legacy has become inextricably bound in the stories Germany and Israel tell about themselves.

Sue Silberberg is a historian, curator and arts administrator who also studied at the International Centre for the Conservation of Cultural Material (ICCROM), an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the preservation of cultural heritage worldwide. She holds a doctorate in History from the University of Melbourne, where she has been a research fellow at the eScholarship Research Centre.

In her book chat, Sue Silberberg explores the cultural diversity that made up colonial Melbourne. Sue gives a new slant to Melbourne’s development and connects Melbourne Jewry into wider historical themes and experiences such as space and place, urbanisation, imperial networks and diaspora.