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In Conversation with Leah Kaminsky & Jacinta Halloran

July 29 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

$10

Humffray Room

Leah Kaminsky

Leah is a physician and award-winning writer. Her debut novel, The Waiting Room, won the Voss Literary Prize.

The Hollow Bones won both the Literary Fiction and Historical Fiction categories of the 2019 International Book Awards, and the 2019 American Book Fest’s Best Book Award for Literary Fiction. She is the author of ten books and holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Leah Kaminsky | Photo: Karen Quist (Lens & Pen Group)

More about the Author

Jacinta Halloran

 Jacinta Halloran is a novelist, family therapist and medical doctor who believes wholeheartedly in the power of words – both written and spoken – to transform, heal and deepen our understanding of each other. A former Board member of the Stella Prize, her fourth and latest novel is RESISTANCE (Text Publishing, 2023).

portrait of author
Jacinta Halloran
Doll’s Eye | Leah Kaminsky
Doll's Eye | Leah Kaminsky

Sometimes there may be more to things than meets the eye.

Germany, 1933. Anna Winter returns home to find a note from her father, warning her of grave danger. She flees overnight, taking her precious doll collection with her, and sets sail for Australia. She lands a job at the Birdum Hotel and carves a new life, hiding her past from the world – until a chance encounter with an eccentric stranger, Alter Mayseh, changes everything.

Australia, 1938. A Yiddish poet fleeing persecution, Alter has seen the writing on the wall for his people. Armed with a letter of introduction from Albert Einstein, he manages his own escape from Europe and arrives in Australia in search of a safe place to call home. When fate leads him to Anna, he’s convinced he’s found his future with her. But a disturbing clue to her dark past threatens to unravel the delicate life she has built on top of the secrets left behind.

Shifting in time and place, Doll’s Eye weaves an intriguing story of love, loss and survival against a backdrop of war and displacement. Evocative and compelling, it brings into question the gap between what we see, and what we don’t.

Resistance  | Jacinta Halloran
book cover
Resistance | Jacinta Halloran

As a family therapist, Nina is the ultimate listener. Yet this is of little use with her latest clients, the Agostinos, who have been mandated to see her after stealing a car and disappearing into the outback.

For support with the case, Nina meets with a supervising therapist, Erin. What they unearth in their sessions goes beyond the Agostino story into confronting personal territory for Nina. Meanwhile, despite her efforts, the Agostinos remain unwilling to speak—so how can Nina be sure that the two children are safe with their parents?

In the tradition of Rachel Cusk’s Outline trilogy, Resistance is an elegant, hypnotic novel of stories within stories. Examining the unfathomable mysteries within our families, it also questions how we retell our history, both personal and collective.

Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au

$10 per person plus booking fee, or, can be purhased in the Library.

Collins Booksellers, Ballart on Lydiard
will be handling book sales for the event.

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Featuring:
The Hideaways,
The Harmonies &
Surf Shadows. 

2 course dinner & lots
of dancing