The Sydney Jewish Writers Festival ran from 21-25 August 2024 at the Bondi Pavilion. We gathered against a backdrop of stunning ocean views to explore, speak, listen, write and dream. This year’s program theme was Genesis, SJWF 2024 was a true celebration of Jewish creativity, writing, authors, art and ideas. The Festival culminated with the inaugural Australian Jewish Book Awards and celebration of the shortlisted and winning authors.

For the first time, SJWF included two ‘Writers in Residence’ who attended sessions of their choosing. We hope you enjoy this session recap from our writer in residence, Lee Kofman.

Jewish Millennial Angst: Roz Bellamy, Nadine Cohen and Anna Jacobson interviewed by Alice Moldovan-Hill

In the deeply moving session Jewish Millennial Angst, it was great to see that finally young Jewish people are inserting their voices into the multicultural arts landscape in Australia. While the focus of Roz Bellamy’s and Anna Jacobson’s memoirs, and Nadine J Cohen’s autofiction novel was on mental illness and things that help us ‘bring ourselves together’, as the excellent chair Alice Moldovan-Hill put it, all the stories engaged also with the Jewishness of the protagonists. As Nadine said, she saw no stories about Australian Jews on television so she decided to write a contemporary tale about young Jewish people living in Sydney.

The writers talked candidly about what it means to feel unwell and shared some stories about unhelpful mental health professionals. They also discussed the ethics of memoir as well as how writing about your experiences can sometimes be a part of the recovery process. And what else can help? Apparently, Jeff Buckley (Roz), women’s baths in Coogee (Nadine) and definitely a delicious babka (Anna)!

Photo credit: Giselle Haber