Melbourne Jewish Book Week
Opening night curator Elise Esther Hearst spoke with Sharyn Kolieb about the importance of this year’s Jewish writers’ festival.
Melbourne Jewish Book Week (MJBW) returns from August 17 to August 21 featuring international authors and local Jewish talent. The theme for the biennial festival is “Belonging”, aimed to foster discussion, a sharing of ideas, and a bringing together of community.
Festival director Debbie Lee said, “This just may be the greatest Melbourne Jewish Book Week show on earth! This year we have reached for the stars and feel that it is so important for the community to come together in a way that reflects our indomitable spirit while celebrating our love of literature. We are genuinely excited about our diverse and dynamic program with quite literally, something for everyone.”
Esteemed international guests include actress, songstress, director, playwright and author Eleanor Reissa from the USA, British writer and memoirist Marina Benjamin, and Israeli writer and novelist Hila Blum.
The festival, supported by The AJN, launches on August 17 at the Glen Eira Town Hall, with a spectacular opening night gala “Of Ghosts and Golems”, which invites writers and performers to dazzle us with mystical tales and dabble in the darker aspects of Jewish storytelling. This year’s event will be hosted and curated by award-winning author, playwright and performer Elise Esther Hearst, (One Day We’re All Going to Die, Yentl, A Very Jewish Christmas Carol), and features the talents of Reissa, Benjamin and Blum, with local writers and performers Bram Presser, Alex Skovron, Arnold Zable, Tami Sussman and Evelyn Krape as well as haunting artworks from Anita Lester and live music.
Photo: Omer Armoni
The festival continues the morning of August 18 at the Pullman Hotel in Albert Park with panel discussions and author interviews. Subject matters include: family, mental health, fiction, poetry and current affairs. There will also be a writers’ workshop, children’s sessions and many books for sale. Highlights of the day include spotlight sessions on the international authors, and a tribute to the late Mark Baker.
On August 18 there will be a literary dinner featuring Reissa in conversation with Gary Abrahams, executive director of Kadimah Yiddish Theatre.
Photo: Robin Christian
The festival’s “grand finale” will be held on August 20 at Raheen, and features acclaimed musician and author Deborah Conway, who alongside husband Willy Zygier will be performing and discussing all things life-affirming, in a unique conversation with their daughter and fellow musician, Alma Zygier.
And on Wednesday August 21, MJBW will co-present a conversation with Lucy Adlington, author of The Dressmakers of Auschwitz, in conjunction with the Melbourne Holocaust Museum and the Shrine of Remembrance.
Speaking to The AJN about MJBW and the opening night “Of Ghosts and Golems”, Hearst told The AJN that it is about “leaning into the darkness to find the light in difficult times … and I think right now more than ever the Jewish community needs to see their ghosts and their golems.”
Hearst noted that this year’s writers’ festival is particularly important as many Jewish authors may have felt that they were not welcome or did not feel safe at other writers’ festivals.
“I think for some authors whose works came out directly around October 7 it was really difficult for them to either celebrate their achievement and for their achievement to be celebrated by others and the wider literary community,” she said.
“Hearing from a great breadth of authors in the Melbourne Jewish community is so important because many of them have missed out on opportunities, whether that’s events being cancelled or just feeling no longer welcome in certain spaces. We need to celebrate each other and lift each other up.”
Hearst herself released her book One Day We’re All Going to Die in September 2023. As to whether she feels October 7 impacted her career, Hearst said it took an “emotional toll” suddenly being a public figure while having creative works on that were about being Jewish.
Photo: eleanorreissa.com
In November, Hearst’s play A Very Jewish Christmas Carol was performed by the Melbourne Theatre Company, and she co-wrote Yentl which was staged at the Malthouse in March. The Malthouse became embroiled in controversy when anti-Israel activist Clementine Ford was scheduled to speak at the Malthouse on the same night as Yentl was to open.
“All I can say from my personal experience was that it was very confusing and distressing to us and the audience … I felt that the whole situation was really unfair, and caused a lot of negative publicity for a show that has nothing to do with Israel. The show speaks for itself.”
Since October 7, Hearst has leaned into comic relief, embracing her Jewish identity in hilarious videos that celebrate local Melbourne Jewish life which she posts to Instagram. “I started doing it completely unconsciously. I was buying stuff from Lenny’s and just doing my shopping for Shabbat and I started filming it because I think I felt really angry and distressed that people didn’t want to acknowledge that Jews in Australia exist.” Hearst said she hopes these clips make other Jewish Australians feel seen and uplifted.
Hearst is looking forward to MJBW which she sees as a real highlight on the calendar, when authors and creatives can come together and celebrate local Jewish talent.
For bookings visit mjbw.com.au
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