There's Lebanon to the north, Gaza to the south, and Iran looming in the background. Social divides with the Ultra-Orthodox, corruption, and a feeling that the country is leaderless. It seems that Israel is never without a multitude of external and internal challenges. A political activist who defies stereotypes, and an experienced journalist who tells it as it is, discuss the biggest issues confronting Israel – inside and out – and how she might possibly triumph on these explosive battle fronts.
Modern Israel’s most beloved poet, Yehuda Amichai, is brought to life like you’ve never heard before. Cellist and composer Adi Sappir and author Lee Kofman offer a stirring, musical rendering of Amichai’s poetry. Weaving the personal and the universal, the sensual and the theological, Amichai inspired international acclaim with his original, accessible and moving verses. This performance illuminates the soul of a poet and a nation, and uplifts audiences anew.
Registration from 9.45am for 10am start. Workshop runs from 10-11am
In this fun and interactive workshop children will experiment with language, exploring its diversity and complexity. They will be challenged to think about how and why the same word is used in different contexts – Has a bottle got a neck? Has a shoe got a tongue?
Suitable for children in Years K-3.
Hosted by PJ Library and the Sydney Jewish Writers Festival.
The headlines and rhetoric about boat people often bury the extraordinary measures that refugees take to leave their homelands, apply for asylum and rebuild their lives. Kooshyar Karimi’s flight from Iran and harrowing fight to keep his family alive as asylum seekers in Turkey offers astonishing insight into the gritty determination needed to survive these traumatic events. He is joined by storyteller and human rights advocate Arnold Zable, who writes extensively and poignantly about the refugee experience – memory and history, displacement and dislocation.
Three survivors share three different experiences of one of the 20th century’s most cataclysmic events, the Holocaust. Baba Schwartz tells her story for the very first time, about a happy childhood in Hungary before suffering the horrors of Auschwitz. Also from Hungary is Frank Vajda, who was saved by the intervention of Raoul Wallenberg. And Marcel Weyland, saved by a Sugihara visa, flees Lodz with his family to find refuge in Shanghai. As the passing of time robs us of the opportunity to hear from survivors first-hand, it is more important than ever to hear their stories.
You may know yourself and the people in your life well, but how do you make yourself and others known to readers who have never met you? How do you express in writing people’s complexities, paradoxes and idiosyncrasies? How do you animate them and bring them to life on the page? In this 2-hour workshop, be guided by acclaimed author Lee Kofman to develop compelling characters and characterise them vividly for readers. All levels of writing experience welcome. Limited places.
Registration from 11am. Workshop runs from 11.15-12.15
This workshop will challenge your child to think laterally and appreciate the power of playing with language. In a fun and dynamic way, children will not only laugh out loud, but also learn just how strange the English language can sometimes be! Using word puzzles, Erica Bentel will lead your child on an exciting journey through language.
Suitable for children in Years 1-5.
Hosted by PJ Library and the Sydney Jewish Writers Festival.
Knowing our family history can help us make sense of our past, but what do we make of uncomfortable truths and traumas that echo through generations? Shelley Davidow’s acclaimed memoir Whisperings in the Blood spans four continents and one hundred years as she explores her family’s stories of immigration. Alexandra Joel mixes biography and fiction to illuminate the story of her great grandmother’s scandalous past in Rosetta. They discuss the intergenerational impact of past trauma and grappling with the real, complex lives of our ancestors.
A major Israeli war which scarred a generation and foreshadowed 21st century warfare but almost no one writes about; a sacred biblical text whose pages were pilfered en route from Syria to Israel and remain a mystery. These are the subjects of Matti Friedman’s books: Pumpkinflowers, an unflinching, heart-wrenching personal account of the first Lebanon War, and the award-winning The Aleppo Codex, a real-life, Jewish The Da Vinci Code. Matti talks about his journeys of discovery and reflection, and what it’s like to go viral on Facebook, with Michael Visontay.
Like many of Arnold Zable's masterpieces, The Fighter is a multi-layered story which explores themes of displacement, memory, trauma, place, multiculturalism, and the Jewish historical experience. Likened to Bryce Courtenay's The Power of One, The Fighter tells the story of champion boxer-cum-social worker, Henry Nissen, and his mother, who survived the Holocaust but lost her battle with mental illness. Yet it also describes the author himself. A long-standing human rights activist, Arnold talks to Shirli Kirschner about writing and making a difference.
Tashi is one of Australia's most beloved children's series and, remarkably, is written by an amazing mother-daughter team. In this session, designed for parents and children to attend together, Barbara and Anna Fienberg share how they work together to unleash their intergenerational creativity, fuse their imaginations, and delight readers. Join the Sydney Jewish Writers Festival and PJ Library as we explore the joys and challenges of writing Tashi, and how relationships can be forged and strengthened through the act of creating, together. Be inspired to be creative with your child.
Against the backdrop of the Holocaust and turmoil of the 20th century, Julie Thomas transports us from the present to the past and back again with her beautifully crafted novels. The Keeper of Secrets is the story of a precious violin lost and a family torn apart, and their extraordinary reunion generations later on the other side of the world. With the publication of the highly anticipated sequel, Rachel's Legacy, Julie talks about how these powerful Jewish stories captured her and her readers' imaginations, with Meredith Jaffe.
Hollywood may have desensitised us to violent crime and portray forensics as par for the course, but back in 1960, the kidnap and ransom of eight-year-old Graeme Thorne shocked the nation and confronted police detectives with circumstances they had never before encountered. Senior Crown Prosecutor and storyteller, Mark Tedeschi, talks to award-winning investigative journalist Linton Besser about writing true crime and corruption, how the investigation of crime and wrong-doing has changed, and the power of the media to be a force for good or fear.
Survival, loss, family and renewal are experiences which have touched many of us. Mireille Juchau grapples with these themes in her new elegiac and gripping novel, The World Without Us, a vivid story of ecological disaster and a family bound together by a terrible, mysterious absence. Already awarded the 2016 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction and shortlisted for The Stella Prize and the Australian Book Industry Award, it is powerful and poetic, revealing Mireille’s multi-layered storytelling talent. She discusses her craft and Jewish influences with Scott Whitmont.
A doctor, a Rabbi and a palliative care nurse talk about the end of life that awaits us all, with SMH literary editor Susan Wyndham, who writes about losing a parent. Breaking down the final taboo, these confronting books and first-hand insights grapple with a highly emotional moment and issue that touches us all but is often swept politely under the carpet. Rethink forever how you spend your time, and how to think and talk about death.
The sky is the limit for new authors, for who knew Fyodor Dostoyevsky before he was first published? It’s one thing to finally pen one’s wildest imaginings and spend hours finessing them, but to discover a publisher and readers who like them too is a dream come true. Three writers offer us new worlds, where a mother crosses the globe to a bushfire ravaged land in order to save her son’s life; a conventional man living a conventional life becomes embroiled in a criminal scam; and neighbours shatter suburban harmony to wage war over building a fence.
In the spirit of Helen Mirren's film Woman In Gold comes the remarkable story of a woman who fought to reclaim property stolen from her family by the Nazis. Dina Gold grew up listening to her grandmother’s tales of their luxurious life in pre-war Berlin. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Dina set out to reclaim the grand building that had housed the family fur business. Stolen Legacy is the extraordinary true story of Dina’s search and long legal battle to attain justice.
How do musicians and composers move us and transform our everyday experience with their creations? Two authors explore different musical worlds and identities to answer these questions and more. Stuart Coupe gives a behind-the-scenes look at the Australian music world and the role of rock’n’roll, while Ida Lichter delves into the world of classical music to shed light on the power of music to heal and transform – both listeners and performers.
Shelley Davidow’s book Raising Stress-Proof Kids presents a fascinating insight into the impact that stress can have on our children and on our parenting. Mums of babies and toddlers are invited to this special session to be held at Shalom Baby on Monday 29th August at AACTA Bar in Westfield Bondi Junction from 11am-1pm. Shelley will be presenting her ideas to mums at 11.30am while toddlers are entertained with craft activities. Shelley will also be available for consultation following her talk. Come and join us for a coffee, the inspiration and a special pop up bookshop.
