Event Topic: Jewish Identity & Culture

Joanne Fedler is a mentor, retreat leader and the bestselling author of 12 books which have been translated into several languages and have sold over 750,000 copies globally. She also presents online writing courses for aspiring writers. Her thirteenth and recently published book Unbecoming unravels the secrets of the wild country called ‘midlife’.

In her book chat, Joanne explores what motivates her to write about motherhood, and how one’s identity as a mother is challenged as children grow and no longer want or need to be ‘mothered’ — and explains why she celebrates mid-life and menopause as a freeing relief.

Rick Held has had a long career as a TV screenwriter. In the 1980s he joined Crawford Productions and later Channel Seven, where his skill for plot, character and dialogue across dramas  (All Saints, A Place To Call Home and Packed To The Rafters) proved perfect preparation for writing fiction. Night Lessons in Little Jerusalem is Rick Held’s first novel.

In his chat, Rick explores the difficult decision to fictionalise his father’s extraordinary story, and takes us on a journey through the Romanian (now Ukranian) city of Czernowitz — his father’s hometown and the setting of Night Lessons in Little Jerusalem.

Dr Joe Reich AM is an ophthalmologist whose professional roles have included Chairmanship of The Senior Medical Staff at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital and being a current board member of Vision Eye Institute. He is also an accomplished artist and author who has previously published three works of fiction and a biography. Ein Stein: A Novel is his fifth book. 

In his book chat, Joe discusses the process of melding fact and fiction in creating the protagonist of his latest work, and how his career as an ophthalmologist led him to the story of Ernst Leitz II — creator of the Leica, and the “photography industry’s Schindler”.