Shalom Sydney Jewish Writers Festival 2018: Full Schedule

10:00am PDT

On Race, Identity and Culture: Afua Hirsch in conversation with Joanna Kalowski

In Afua Hirsch’s timely book Brit(ish) she explores her Britishness and Britain’s views on race and otherness. Meshing memoir and research, Hirsch draws on her own experiences as the child of a white Jewish father and a Ghanaian mother. In this session Afua and Joanna will explore the tensions that exist within cultural identity, what happens when we deeply consider the history of racism in the place we live and how we can ask uncomfortable questions to better understand ourselves and each other.

Moderator

Joanna Kalowski

Joanna Kalowski is a mediator, facilitator and judicial educator with a background in adult education and government.Australian-born daughter of German Jewish refugees, Jo brings her interest in identity formation and cross-cultural communication to the work she does in Australia... Read More →

Speakers

Afua Hirsch

Afua Hirsch is an author, journalist, broadcaster and former barrister. Having studied and worked across 15 countries in West and Central Africa on international law and development, Afua became the West Africa Correspondent for The Guardian, establishing the paper’s first ever... Read More →

Sunday August 26, 2018 10:00am - 11:00am PDT
Main Hall Waverley Library, 32/48 Denison St, Bondi Junction NSW 2022, Australia

Politics & History, In conversation

11:15am PDT

On Borrowed Time: Robert Manne in conversation with Caroline Baum

Professor Robert Manne has published innumerable books, articles and essays on public-interest topics ranging from climate change to the rights of asylum seekers, media challenges and the Islamic State ideology. On Borrowed Time is Robert’s latest collection of his articles and essays published between 2011 and 2017, with a title essay that honestly and movingly deals with his response to the diagnosis in 2016 of cancer in his throat, ultimately affirming his love of life and his belief in the pursuit of truth.

Moderator

Caroline Baum

Caroline is a writer, journalist and broadcaster. The founding editor of Good Reading magazine and former features editor of Vogue Australia, Caroline was the editorial director of Booktopia and has also been a presenter for ABC TV and an ABC Radio National producer. In 2015 Caroline... Read More →

Speakers

Robert Manne

Robert Manne is emeritus professor of politics at La Trobe University. His recent book is On Borrowed Time. He has written three Quarterly Essays and is a regular contributor to the Monthly and the Guardian.

Sunday August 26, 2018 11:15am - 12:15pm PDT
Main Hall Waverley Library, 32/48 Denison St, Bondi Junction NSW 2022, Australia

People & Stories, In conversation

12:45pm PDT

Monash's Masterpiece

Peter FitzSimons and his red bandana have become contemporary Australian icons. Peter is a renowned journalist, columnist and biographer. He is the author of several bestselling books of Australian military history, including Gallipoli and Kokoda. His latest work, Monash's Masterpiece, gives us some surprising insights into the Jewish Australian commander who led the Diggers into the famous Battle of Le Hamel exactly 100 years ago.

Moderator

Scott Whitmont

Scott owns and operates Lindfield Bookshop and Lindfield Children’s Bookshop. Passionate about books, he is a former President of the Australian Booksellers’ Association (NSW) and a former member of the ABA’s Federal Executive Committee. Scott is a member of the 2018 SJWF Programming... Read More →

Speakers

Peter FitzSimons

Peter FitzSimons is Australia's bestselling non-fiction writer, and a columnist with the Sydney Morning Herald and the Sun Herald. He is the author of a number of highly successful books, including Kokoda, Ned Kelly and Gallipoli, as well as biographies of such notable Australians... Read More →

Sunday August 26, 2018 12:45pm - 1:45pm PDT
Main Hall Waverley Library, 32/48 Denison St, Bondi Junction NSW 2022, Australia

Politics & History, In conversation

2:00pm PDT

Reading Horror

In ‘The Dead Still Cry Out’ Helen Lewis writes about her father’s extraordinary experience photographing the liberation of Bergen Belsen. The child of Jewish refugees, Mike Lewis’ images shocked him and the world. Helen explores the issues around the use of photographs as source documents and considers the distinction between looking and seeing when it comes to images of atrocity. In our hyper image obsessed age and society, Lewis considers the ethics and aesthetics of viewing images of horror.

Moderator

Michaela Kalowski

Michaela Kalowski is a presenter, interviewer and facilitator. She has conducted radio interviews for ABC RN's The Music Show and Big Ideas and has presented programs on ABC RN, Classic FM & Local Radio. She regularly facilitates panels at Sydney Writers’ Festival, Sydney Jewish... Read More →

Speakers

Helen Lewis

Helen Lewis is a writer, editor and researcher who was born in the UK and moved to Australia when she was twenty-one. She lives in the hinterland of Eden, New South Wales, where she indulges her love of gardening.

Sunday August 26, 2018 2:00pm - 3:00pm PDT
Main Hall Waverley Library, 32/48 Denison St, Bondi Junction NSW 2022, Australia

Holocaust, In conversation

3:15pm PDT

The Journey Through Community Stories

Writing a memoir or autobiography is a journey filled with trepidation and the challenges of self-examination. For Holocaust survivors, the memories elicited are frequently painful. The Community Stories team of the Sydney Jewish Museum provide a service which, while professional, is much closer than arm's length. This session, facilitated by Professor Konrad Kwiet, will address the process of writing and publishing one's story with the Museum.

Moderator

Konrad Kwiet

Born in Germany, since 1976 resident in Australia, Emeritus Professor, resident historian Sydney Jewish Museum.

Speakers

Dasia Black

Dr Dasia Black was born in Poland in 1938. She was three years old when the Nazis marched into her township in Galicia. Dasia’s parents were murdered by the Nazis. At the age of twelve she arrived in Australia with her adoptive parents, where she completed her schooling and university... Read More →

Judit Mitro

Hungarian born but now living in Sydney, Judit Mitro has written ‘Children Without Tears’, an original and poignant memoir which sheds light on her extraordinary life. She explores her half Jewish and half Gypsy background, searching for answers relating to her identity. Having... Read More →

Aneta Weinreich

Aneta Weinreich is the author of The Right Time to Speak. Until 2012, this incredible story remained untold for nearly 70 years -- then a sudden illness threatened her ability to speak, compelling her to dictate her story of survival in the Kraków Ghetto, the notorious Plaszów Labour... Read More →

Sunday August 26, 2018 3:15pm - 4:15pm PDT
Main Hall Waverley Library, 32/48 Denison St, Bondi Junction NSW 2022, Australia

Holocaust, Panel Discussion

4:30pm PDT

Where it all Begins: Laughing at Adversity

Ros Ben-Moshe's approach to life is that love, laughter and mindfulness can help us overcome all types of adversity. Ros is the author of “Laughing at cancer – How to Heal with Love, Laughter and Mindfulness” (http://laughingatcancer.com). As a Global Laughter Ambassador and the founder of LaughLife Wellbeing Programs, Ros has a unique way of embracing a positive mindset to enhance resilience during life's prickly moments. This session will awaken your inner smile and remind you to live your life to its fullest.

Moderator

Rachael Kohn

Dr Rachael Kohn is known around Australia for her 25 years of making ABC programs on religion, including TV and Radio documentaries, and particularly on Jewish themes, from Holocaust remembrance to archaeology in Israel. She taught Jewish studies at the University of Sydney, was the... Read More →

Speakers

Ros Ben-Moshe

Ros Ben-Moshe is author of “Laughing at cancer – How to Heal with Love, Laughter and Mindfulness” (http://laughingatcancer.com) based on a series of journals she wrote following a shock diagnosis of bowel cancer at age 42. It is both a memoir of her journey to wellness and healing... Read More →

Sunday August 26, 2018 4:30pm - 5:30pm PDT
Main Hall Waverley Library, 32/48 Denison St, Bondi Junction NSW 2022, Australia

People & Stories, In conversation