Some great reviews have come in over the past few days from the likes of Australian Book Review, Good Reading Magazine and ANZ LitLovers. Be sure to check them out here.

This Wednesday I’ll be doing my first solo event, recounting the story behind The Book of Dirt. Come to Port Phillip Library for a session of show and tell, interpretive dance*, self-deprecation, embarrassing stories, little-known and fascinating factoids, not to mention an entire choreographed laser and firework display*.

It’s free but you’ll need to book your spot here.

*May not actually include interpretive dance or choreographed laser and firework display.

Last Thursday saw the third instalment in my In Conversation triptych. Thanks to all the wonderful people who came out to listen and extra special thanks to my three interlocutors who were all, in their very different ways, absolutely brilliant and a joy to chat with.

Tim Byrne at The Avenue, Elsternwick
Tali Lavi at The Jewish Museum of Australia
Leah Kaminsky at Readings, Carlton

This week I’m taking over the airwaves with chats on 2SER, ABC Radio National, 3AW and 3CR. Links to come.

Top: With Tim @ The Avenie
Bottom Left: With Tali @ The Jewish Museum
Bottom Right: With Leah @ Readings

On Thursday night, Arnold Zable launched The Book of Dirt at Memo Music Hall in Melbourne. It was a night of feasting, drinking, great music and, quite possibly, a golem hiding in the rafters. Thanks to all who came.

Launch speech videos will be uploaded soon.

Official publication week for The Book of Dirt has now come and gone, and what a week it was! News came in on Publication Day (August 28) that the book has already gone into reprint. Meanwhile, there were a couple of amazing reviews from Readings Monthly (“Extraordinary”) and The Saturday Paper (“A major book”) which you can check out here!

The Book of Dirt is now available in all good book stores across Australia.

Bram spoke with Nitza Lowenstein on SBS Radio’s Hebrew Program this past Sunday about his family, the quest to rescue their stories from the myths that were built around them and the long road to writing The Book of Dirt. If you missed it, check it out here. And don’t worry, it’s in English.

On the Australian Book Design Association blog, Warren from the wonderful Embiggen Books has named The Book of Dirt his top pick for September. Amazing recognition for WH Chong’s inspired cover. Check out the ABDA site here!

With only nine days left until The Book of Dirt hits the shelves, a huge 5 page extract from the first section of the novel was published in Good Weekend Magazine (The Age in Melbourne and The Sydney Morning Herald in Sydney). Get your eyes into it here!

Good Weekend Magazine, August 19, 2017

So this happened yesterday. Hothouse Studios in St Kilda with all-round legend Craig Harnath. Can’t tell you why just yet. Only know that it is for something extremely fun and silly. Which, obviously, is not The Book of Dirt: The Musical.

Bram and Craig ready to make some noise at Hothouse (actually talking shit for 2 hours, recording for about 20 minutes)..

With just over a fortnight to go before The Book Of Dirt hits the shelves, now’s the time to check out the first couple of trailers in the series.

The Book of Dirt: Jakub and Daša 

Bram’s grandparents, Jakub and Daša, took their stories to the grave. It was only years after they died that Bram happened upon a newspaper article purporting to tell Jakub’s extraordinary story and set him on the search to discover the truth. So began the eight year quest to uncover and reimagine what lay beneath the silence.

The Book of Dirt: A Grandson’s Search

A walk through the abandoned spaces of Theresienstadt and Birkenau. During his search, Bram was granted unprecedented access into the usually off-limits abandoned spaces of Theresienstadt. Then, when visiting Birkenau, he found his way into a closed off subcamp, the same place where Jakub had been imprisoned seventy years beforehand.