Author of Dog and The Girl Who Rode the White Lion, Yishay Ishi Ron is the winner of two US National Book Awards, and Dog was long-listed for the prestigious Israeli Sapir prize. Dog is an auto-fiction about war, addiction and PTSD, soon to be made into a movie. Ben Lindner, acclaimed producer of Beyond the Zero podcast, is passionate about changing lives through interviewing outstanding authors.
Event Type: Video
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Nazis in Australia: Fact, Fiction, Print and Screen
How did Australia become a refuge for alleged Nazi war criminals after WWII, and what happened when investigators set out to find them? This session explores fact, fiction, print and screen through the work of Danny Ben-Moshe, Mark Aarons and Dan Goldberg, moderated by Simon Holloway. From the Special Investigations Unit’s pursuit of justice for Holocaust victims, to the documentaries Our Dad the Nazi Killer and The Hunt for the Last Nazis, and most recently the novel The Watchmaker’s War, this discussion uncovers hidden histories, family secrets and unsettling truths in Australian suburbs.
Speakers: Mark Aarons, Danny Ben-Moshe, Dan Goldberg – moderator Simon Holloway
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Intersections: Shared Histories, Different Journeys
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?
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In Search of Safe Haven: The Wandering Jew
THIS EVENT is proudly supported by:
Rachel Cockerell, David Marlow, Adam Van Heerden – moderator Michael Visontay
From a German-Jewish family spanning more than 300 years, to the little-known proposal for a Jewish homeland in Texas, to a contemporary pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago, this conversation explores journeys of displacement, resilience and self-discovery. Drawing on family archives, historical research and personal experience, the panel examines how migration shapes identity, how communities preserve memory across generations, and what the search for belonging can teach us about Jewish life, past and present.
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Telling the Untold: From War-Torn Europe to Post-War Australia
Raya Goldtwig, Jonathan Kanat, Fiona Kelmann, Joe Reich – moderator Daniel Haumschild
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.
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Back from the Brink: The Impact of PTSD
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
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The Art of Satire: New Jewish Fiction
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
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The Big Book Balagan: Books We Love
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.
As promised, here’s the reading list!
A BOOK FOR GOOD TIMES AND BAD
Alice Zaslavsky: The Blessing of a Skinned Knee by Wendy Mogel PhD
Bram Presser: Fracture by Andres Neuman
Dani Valent: The Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden
Elise Esther Hearst: My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Sarah Krasnostein: The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
A BOOK OR AUTHOR YOU WISH MORE PEOPLE WOULD READ
Alice: Living in an Upside Down World by Rabbi Ralph Genende
Bram: Elaine Kraf (especially The Princess of 72nd Street)
Dani: The Dark Room by Susan Faludi
Elise: The Position of Spoons and Other Intimacies by Deborah Levy
Sarah: Janet Malcolm
BIG BOOK/LITTLE BOOK
Alice: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabriel Zevin / Transcription by Ben Lerner
Bram: Homebound by Portia Elan / The Last Movement by Robert Seethaler
Dani: Chess by Stefan Zweig
Elise: Famesick by Lena Dunham / Heartburn by Nora Ephron
Sarah: The Power Broker by Robert Caro / The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick
THE BOOK YOU’RE MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO READING
Alice: My Family by David Baddiel
Bram: Dead Herzls by Joshua Cohen (February 2027)
Dani: Howl by Howard Jacobson
Elise: Pan Tadeusz by Adam Mickiewcz
Sarah: The Last Best Place on the Internet by Richard Cooke
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The Human Touch: Creativity In The Age of AI
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
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Closing Conversation: Jonathan Freedland
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.