What happened around this time last year when three Jewish literary tragics entered a room to talk books? Melbourne Jewish Book Week’s bookish version of Margaret and David was a roaring success. Who knew an evening of book recommendations could be so entertaining? Expect even more this year as our passionate book aficionados – Tali, Bram and Elissa –  preview some of the biggest forthcoming books, discuss their recent reads and tell…

Originally from New York, Lauren Elkin lived in Paris for over twenty years and now lives in London. Her most recent book No. 91/92: A Parisian Bus Diary reflects on an earlier Paris. In this conversation with critic, writer and programmer for MJBW, Tali Lavi, Lauren will talk about reading the world through writing, and her recent contribution to The Jewish Quarterly, an exploration of…

In this conversation, Lily Brett talks with Michaela Kalowski about ‘Old Seems to be Other People’ — and reflects on the need to move, to live and to have fun while you still can.

Presented in partnership with The Jewish Quarterly. Featuring award-winning Israeli author and journalist Nir Baram and Man Booker International prize-winning translator Jessica Cohen in conversation with The Jewish Quarterly editor Jonathan Pearlman, ‘The Art of Translation in the State of Israel Today’ will provide insights into Baram’s piece in the forthcoming issue of JQ, life…

Sarah Krasnostein — multi-award winning author of The Trauma Cleaner — will be interviewed by journalist Meredith Lake about Sarah’s latest publication, The Believer, and her explorations into the fascinating and labyrinthine realm of belief.

Join Melbourne Jewish Book Week and world-renowned historian Simon Schama, a high-profile contributor to the new issue of The Jewish Quarterly with the editor Jonathan Pearlman – to explore why the stoking of ancient hatreds is so potent right now. 

Elissa Goldstein will be in conversation with Michael Twitty, a riveting storyteller and a 21st-century multi-hyphenate talent. Michael is a culinary historian and educator with a focus on African, African-American and Jewish cuisines; a Judaic studies teacher; and a historical interpreter who specialises in the foodways of enslaved people, which profoundly influenced contemporary America. 

The conversation between Arnold Zable and Tali Lavi offered readers an insight into The Watermill, a quartet of true stories of displacement, of survival and and of resistance, and how Zable sheds a ray of light in the darkest of places.

In a highly-anticipated event, critically acclaimed American writer Nicole Krauss (Man Walks Into a Room, The History of Love, The Great House, Forest Dark and the newly released To Be a Man: Stories) talks to Tali Lavi about freedom, strange truths, restlessness, Kafka and the fluid landscape of fiction writing.

What happens when three Jewish literary tragics enter a room to talk books? (Admittedly, it is a virtual room.) Expect passions to be stirred, differences of opinion to be had, raucous laughter and a river of tears to be experienced – and that’s only at your end. It’s Melbourne Jewish Book Week’s bookish version of Margaret and David….

Australian literary legend, Alex Miller talks with MJBW Festival Director, Nicolas Brasch, about his first work of non-fiction, Max — the search for threads of the life of his best friend, Max Blatt.

Melbourne journalist Isabelle Oderberg was joined by Noongar writer Claire G. Coleman and writer, Black American and Orthodox Rabbi Shais Rishon as they journeyed through the variegated terrain of identity and belonging. Exploring experiences of connection and community alongside those of disconnection and divide, Oderberg uncovered Coleman and Rishon’s realities, fears and hopes through the…

Dr Paul Valent MBBS, DPM, FRANZCP, discusses the enigma of violence and its relationship to love with Dr Rachael Kohn AO, FRSNSW. Violence, for Valent, is not an isolated feature of the human condition. Surprisingly close to violence are struggles for love. Find out more about that aspect of humanity.

Our first MJBW seasonal book club selection – Juliet Rieden’s ‘The Writing on the Wall’ — was a memoir uncovering a personal Holocaust tragedy of epic proportions. The conversation between Rieden and Bram Presser offered readers an intriguing and rewarding chat with particular viewpoints from audience members being eloquently answered.

Ben Lewin, internationally renowned Australian film director, considers himself a ‘forty year overnight success.’ Join us for an evening packed with his witty insights as he talks to local film critic Jan Epstein about his recent work The Catcher Was A Spy and beyond. Lewin will consider the creative complexities involved in successfully bringing a book from page…

Broadcast live from New York to Melbourne, Melbourne Jewish Book Week — in partnership with Plus61J — is thrilled to bring you Colum McCann, the international award-winning author of Let the Great World Spin, discussing his new book Apeirogon with Mark Raphael Baker.

In trying to navigate the unknown future, what can the past teach us? Join paediatric infectious disease specialist Professor David Isaacs, (author of Defeating the Ministers of Death: The Compelling History of Vaccination), in conversation with Dr Elizabeth Finkel, as together they shed light on the history of pandemics.

Philippe Sands — eminent international barrister and award-winning author of ‘East West Street’ — discusses his new book, ‘The Ratline’, with Mark Raphael Baker.