Event Type: MJBW2026

Joseph Toltz, Galit Klas, Adam Starr

Bucharest, 1945: a small team of Polish Jews are gathered in a house set up by the American JOINT to support recently liberated survivors of the camps and ghettos. While compiling testimonies from those who come for food, provisions, and advice for safe places to resettle, they also gather songs of wartime experience, which are collected and printed in a short run. 

Sydney, 2013: one of these fragile songbooks is found in the estate of a survivor in Sydney, preserved from deterioration by chance, pressed between pages of another music score. It is one of only 5 remaining copies in the world. Thirteen years later, the book is reborn as Out of the Depths: the first collection of Holocaust songs.

The finale to Melbourne Jewish Book Week is conceived by the 2026 book’s co-author Joseph Toltz in association with Galit Klas, Adam Starr and other brilliant Melbourne creatives and klezmorim. Melodies from survivors are woven around the wartime narrative of the editor Yehuda Eismann, the custodian Olga R, and the designer of the book, Flora Romm.  

As Professor Marcia Langton AM noted in her keynote launch of the book in June, the songs “capture experiences at a temporal proximity rarely available in written testimony. A single object retained among personal belongings becomes a material anchor for reconstructing an entire cultural history. It is a testament to the enduring power of cultural resistance.”

Shoshanna Rockman – Curator

Eva Collins, Alan Fyfe, Leah Kaminsky, Barbara Kamler, Anita Lester, Milo Lincoln, Gal Iungman, Guido Melo, Alex Skovron, Isi Unikowski, Ann Shenfield

Pop in for soul-soothing poetry in the heart of winter, in the heart of our beloved St Kilda. An MJBW2026 Monday night special event. Sip a luminous cocktail or an Italian wine whilst your imagination roams. This is a poetry performance of, for and by the people. Be immersed in the words, imagery and rhythms of our old favourites, interstate greats and courageous newbies.

The much anticipated Melbourne Jewish Book Week Opening Night Gala is back!

There’s no singular definition for Jewish humour, but we know it when we hear it. It can be acidic, dark and uncomfortably honest. It can be silly or necessarily subtle. Sometimes we choose to laugh because we know that, otherwise, we will cry.

If You Don’t Laugh… is a gala evening that brings the community together through moments of humour, irony and reflection. Curated and introduced by the amazing Jessica Bellamy, enjoy an evening of unique stories by authors Rachel Cockerell, Yishay Ishi Ron, Ayelet Tsabari, Ali Berg, Danny Ben-Moshe, Katia Ariel, Alan Fyfe and Billy Albert, with live music from Galit Klas and Adrian Banner.

Featuring visual art by Lola Kalinski-Digaletos, and set design from Charlotte Eizenberg.

A/V and Sound: Damasta Productions
Stage Management: Scott Bertram
Videography: James McPherson
Photography: Ofri Barnea

Merav Fima, Ayelet Tsabari, Sanjiva Wijesinha – moderator Marcelo Maghidman

From the Middle East to the Americas, Europe and the Orient, Jewish communities have developed distinct traditions while remaining connected through history and time. Bringing together Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi and non-Jewish perspectives, this conversation explores the diversity of Jewish cultures and how this manifests in the stories we tell. What unites us despite our differences, how do others perceive us, and how do we perceive ourselves?

Melbourne poet and literary critic, Tali Lavi and award-winning journalist and author, Jonathan Freedland, will discuss his bestselling books – The Traitors Circle: The Rebels Against the Nazis and the Spy Who Betrayed Them, the compelling true story of a high-society, anti-Nazi resistance network in 1943 Berlin, and The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World, the remarkable account of the life of Rudolf Vrba, who together with fellow escapee Alfred Wetzler first revealed the full truth of the notorious death camp.

Artificial intelligence is transforming every aspect of modern life, driving innovation, productivity and economic growth. Yet it also raises urgent questions about authenticity, authorship and trust. Join Alan Finkel, former Chief Scientist and founder of the international certification organisation, ProudlyHuman™, and highly esteemed academic publishing director, Nathan Hollier, in conversation with John M Green, business leader and board member, Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre, whose latest thriller, Staged stars an investigator who uses AI!

**Speakers:** Alan Finkel and Nathan Hollier in Conversation with John M Green

Elise Esther Hearst, Sarah Krasnostein, Dani Valent, Alice Zaslavsky – moderator Bram Presser

A riotous discussion of Jewish books with some of Melbourne’s brightest book stars who will share their favourite recent reads, some hidden gems and all the books they can’t wait to read. You’ll be in for a wide-ranging and totally unpredictable book balagan with wild opinions, laughs and a dangerous increase to the height of your bedside book stack.

How do writers use satire to challenge assumptions, reveal uncomfortable truths and find meaning in a complex world? What is the role of humour, irony and absurdity in storytelling? The Rising Lights is Steve Toltz’ darkly comic and philosophical novel about a former child psychotherapist confronting modern loneliness and artificial intelligence. Alan Fyfe’s The Cross Thieves is a bold, compassionate and razor-sharp story of two hungry boys whose quest for adventure and revenge brims with street spirit. Billy Albert, in Everything Goes to the Dogs, creates an uproarious yet incisive satire of family, money and morality.

**Speakers:** Billy Albert, Alan Fyfe, Steve Toltz – moderator Scott Whitmont

Drawing on powerful stories of institutional abuse, Holocaust survival, incarceration and active military combat, this panel examines the lasting impact of trauma on identity, relationships and family. Guided by esteemed traumatologist Dr Paul Valent, the discussion will explore the causes and consequences of PTSD, the complex journey towards healing, and the vital role of storytelling in deepening understanding, seeking justice and fostering hope.

**Speakers:** Simon Feldman, Alicia Leigh, Yishay Ishi Ron, Ilana Snyder – participating moderator, Paul Valent

Ninety-year-old Raya Goldtwig recounts her childhood and her family’s desperate wartime measures, as if it were yesterday. By contrast, Joe Reich must embark on a forensic search to uncover his father’s Holocaust experience. Jonathan Kanat reveals how secrets from the Holocaust reverberate with devastating impact, long after his mother has settled in Melbourne. And Fiona Kelmann edits her grandmother’s memoir, as well as taking on the sacred role of scribe for another survivor. In telling these Holocaust stories, all four Melbourne-based authors have ensured that we will never forget.

**Speakers:** Raya Goldtwig, Jonathan Kanat, Fiona Kelman, Joe Reich – moderator Daniel Haumschild