SJWF goes live with month of spoken word

The Sydney Jewish Writers Festival is taking its storytelling off the page this August, launching Festival of the Spoken Word, a new month-long program of Jewish stories told live.

Across 17 events, audiences will encounter established and emerging voices creating boldwork shaped by memory, identity, history and contemporary Jewish life, with stories presented through theatre, music, comedy, conversation and more.

Festival director Hannah Saunders said the expansion reflects a deliberate shift in how the festival wants audiences to experience stories.

“Stories remain at the heart of what we do. This year we wanted to create more ways to encounter them. Festival of the Spoken Word brings together theatre, music, conversation and performance to create experiences that begin with language and come to life in the room.”

Saunders also pointed to a broader context shaping the festival’s purpose.

“At a time when opportunities for Jewish creatives to share their work publicly are increasingly limited, the festival creates space for Jewish artists, writers and performers to bring audiences together around contemporary Jewish stories.”

The program covers a wide range.

Highlights include One of a Kind, a semi-staged musical, Wake by Ron Elisha, and Dear Jessy, Dear Miriam by Jessica Chapnik Kahn and Miriam Hechtman as staged readings and two music and performance works, Who By Water with Anita Lester and Fugitive with Simon Tedeschi AM.

Author Joanne Fedler will appear in conversation with Magdalena Ball, while comedy and spoken word events You Were Great in Shule! and Voices of the Tribe round out the more irreverent end of the program.

The festival will also host the Shalom Collective Australian Jewish Writer Awards, featuring a panel with Israeli authors Ayelet Tsabari and Yishay Ishi Ron.

Festival of the Spoken Word runs throughout August. Full program and bookings at shalomcollective.com.au