New York author joins breakfast panel

New York-based journalist and author Marisa Meltzer will join a distinguished lineup of Australian women leaders at Emanuel Synagogue this Sunday for an International Women’s Day event presented in partnership with WIZO.

Meltzer’s latest book, It Girl, centres on Jane Birkin, the British-born actor and singer who defined 1960s and 1970s French culture through her music, films and long creative partnership with Serge Gainsbourg.

Speaking to The AJN ahead of the event, Meltzer said she is looking forward to the opportunity to connect with Jewish communities abroad.

“It feels like a privilege to be able to go to another city, another country and be part of this larger diasporic population that represents all different facets of the culture,” she said.

“I’m thinking a lot about Jane Birkin, about the beats of her life, of her finding her voice and her artistic self. Through Serge Gainsbourg and her daughter, she has a huge connection to Jewish culture in France.

“My book was especially inspired by the question of what happens as you age, if everyone sees you as this kind of young, ‘it girl’ in public, but that was you when you were 20 and now 50 years have gone on. I think a lot of what she was dealing with in the public eye as a famous person is now kind of the identity crisis we’re all confronting with social media: what happens when people only know you as an image?”

Also on the Champions of Change panel will be Shoshana Gottlieb-Beker, a writer, educator, podcaster and creator of the viral Instagram account @JewishMemesOnly.

“It’s always been a page to make myself laugh,” Gottlieb-Beker told The AJN. “Along the way a lot of people have found comfort in it, a lot of people have expressed to me that it’s a way for them to connect.

“I do try to stick to the light hearted stuff. There’s more than enough pain online and I think we’re addicted to finding things that make us angry on the internet, so I always try to be a counter to that.”

The panel will also feature one of Australia’s leading film directors Cate Shortland, Zara Seidler who co-founded The Daily Aus, a youth-focused news platform that started on Instagram and now reaches hundreds of thousands of young Australians, and Alethea Gold who leads SmartAID, an international humanitarian organisation delivering rapid-response aid in disaster and conflict zones.

Emanuel Synagogue senior rabbi Jacqueline Ninio will moderate the discussion.

To register for the event visit: events.humanitix.com/champions-of-change-international-womens-day-2026-at-emanuel-synagogue