Noble Fragments by Michael Visontay tells the fascinating story of how a rare book dealer in the 1920s took apart a Gutenberg Bible and sold its pages individually—an act that shocked the literary world. Decades later, this decision would play an unexpected role in Visontay’s own family history, helping them rebuild their lives after fleeing post-war Hungary. Blending history and personal memoir, the book explores how seemingly small events can have lasting and life-changing consequences.

The current issue of The Jewish Quarterly presents: ‘The Z Word: Reclaiming Zionism’ by Adam Kirsch.

In the aftermath of October 7, Zionism has increasingly been used by critics of Israel as a term of derision. Yet, as Adam Kirsch writes in this groundbreaking essay, the challenge for Jews today is not merely to counter attempts to distort and corrupt the meaning and origins of Zionism. The Jewish people, he argues, do not need to defend the term – they need to reclaim it.

Welcome to the latest episode of Writing Lives. Our guest is award-winning Israeli author, Shifra Horn, in conversation with Melbourne-based author and writing mentor, Dr Lee Kofman. This conversation with the internationally renowned Shifra Horn focuses on her latest book Scorpion Dance and her life as a writer. 

In this special conversation, Emeritus Professor Cary Nelson discusses the state of university discourse after October 7 in conversation with Professor Kim Rubenstein. Nelson argues that the university – an institution dedicated to the search for truth, knowledge and freedom – became overrun by a toxic and dangerous fervour. Civil discourse was abandoned, as campuses became the epicentre of hate speech, bigotry, conspiracy theories, denialism and antisemitism. Yet, as Nelson reveals, this betrayal of the university’s ideals was decades in the making.

Channelling The Alchemist, The Princess Bride and The Little Prince, Joanne Fedler’s new work — The Whale’s Last Song — is a celebration of the beauty and mystery of being alive in a world in which we are part of everything, and everything is part of us. In this conversation with MJBW Director Debbie Lee, Joanne discusses…

The upcoming issue of The Jewish Quarterly presents the diary of Yitskhok Rudashevski, a Jewish teenager in the Vilna Ghetto. An only child, Rudashevski was transferred to the ghetto at age 13 and used a small notebook to chronicle his experiences, wonder, hopes and regrets. The diary was later discovered in an attic which was the final hiding place for him and his parents. On Tuesday 12 November, join Samuel Kassow in conversation with David Slucki as they discuss Yitskhok Rudashevski’s remarkable diary, filled with the observations of a teenager whose belief in culture, history and knowledge defied the cruelty that surrounded him.

Presented as part of the just-launched 2024 Jewish International Film Festival, Kafka is a 2024 German-Austrian television series which centres on Franz Kafka, his love affairs with Felice Bauer, Milena Jesenská and Dora Diamant and his friendship with Max Brod.

Join us for a live introduction to this critically acclaimed series delving into the enigmatic life of the greatest and most famous writer of the twentieth century, with author and Kafka fanatic Bram Presser introducing the screening.

Step into an evening of grand theatricality as our writers and performers dazzle us with mystical tales, dipping their toes in the dark landscapes of ghosts and golems. Prepare to be enchanted, entertained, and transported across the shtetls and oceans of your dreams, all the way from Prague to Ripponlea. Hosted and curated by award-…

MJBW is delighted to bring you this special event in partnership with The Melbourne Holocaust Museum and The Shrine of Remembrance. At the height of the Holocaust, twenty-five young inmates of the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp – mainly Jewish women and girls – were selected to design, cut, and sew beautiful fashions for elite Nazi…

A life in music, a life in song, a life in the public eye, a life as child, a mother, a Jew and a Zionist and always a truth telling iconoclast… Melbourne Jewish Book Week is proud to present this exclusive event at Raheen, featuring Deborah Conway discussing her candid memoir, Book of Life with…