North Wales produced story was nominated for a prestigious Australian Jewish book award.
North Wales produced and promoted story was nominated for a prestigious Australian Jewish book award.
The Storms You Walk Through:
A Memoir of Roza Hamer by ex-pat author Joy
*This book is now available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4lXUnzo
Exclusive report by Don Hale. Promoted by Coast and Country online magazine.
An exciting new book written by an Australian author and promoted by North Wales based Coast and Country online magazine in conjunction with publishers Bookpublishing4u, has narrowly missed out on a prestigious top Jewish Book Award in Australia after reaching the final cut of nominations.
Ex-pat and octogenarian Joy Bloumis, who now lives in Victoria, Australia, has written a fascinating new book about a mysterious and dramatic episode in her life that finally reveals the facts about an amazing young woman’s daring journey just before, during, and after WW2, who is linked to a family member.
Her determined quest for the truth, and her extensive and dedicated work delving into many historic archives, war records, and family history sites, produced a compelling true account about a young female nurse – Roza Hamer - who fled Poland during WW2 only to find herself trapped in Russia just as the Nazi’s invaded her homeland, before being forced to join the Soviet Union Army!
The story follows her dramatic life and problematic journey as she eventually escaped from Russia and travelled across war-torn Europe before joining her brother in China, and then later settling in the new State of Israel.
Joy is already a respected published children’s author with a glittering background career in education safely behind her. She has degrees in Psychology and Education, and taught English for over 35-years at Australian Government schools.
She was a former Head of English, and a debating coordinator, who worked for over 10-years as an assessor for final exam results. She is married with four daughters, seven grandchildren and one great grandchild.
Joy’s book, however, proves that patience and perseverance can pay off, and her extensive campaign to discover the truth about a distant family member finally brought Roza’s story to life. And after hearing that she had just missed out on reaching the final short list, she confirmed: “No luck with the Jewish writer’s prize. I feel flattered however, that I was asked to submit my book.
“The other memoir was written by an author with many books to her name, so it was not surprising that she was nominated. Her subject was also much closer in line to what I think they were looking for. All good experience though, and it did cause my heart to flutter!”
*Promoted by Coast and Country online magazine: https://amzn.to/3I3KO3W
The Storms You Walk Through: A Memoir of Roza Hamer.
Synopsis: *This book is now available on Amazon as paperback, ebook and audio book: https://amzn.to/3NxPcaH
Roza Hamer is an exciting new book by Australian author Joy Bloumis which takes you on a compelling wartime journey through several troubled countries.
Roza Hamer always knew she wanted to be the best nurse possible, and when her brothers’ wanted her to join them as they fled Poland because of the rise in antisemitism Roza refused, remaining employed as a nurse in a general hospital.
However, when Germany invaded Poland, Roza eventually fled to Russia, leaving her family and became immediately conscripted into the Russian Army!
There, she faced starvation, disease, and the daily threat of a German victory.
When the war ended Roza was reunited with her younger brother in China, however war between the Communists and the Nationalists became alarming for Europeans, and Rosa had to leave once again, this time immigrating to Israel.
The Storms You Walk Through: A Memoir of Roza Hamer.
*This book is now available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3NxPcaH
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*If you want to publish your own story contact: www.bookpublishing4u.co.uk
Tel 01745-832211. Email: Ads2life@btinternet.com
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AUSTRALIAN JEWISH WRITER AWARDS - Created by Shalom Collective: Special report about all the winners:
Quote from Anna Stern, Deputy Director of Programs at Shalom Collective:
“The Australian Jewish Writer Awards aim to reflect the diversity of Jewish experience, thought, research, politics, and genres. To some, they are a public recognition and celebration of Australian Jewish writing.
"To others, a glimpse into the breadth of Jewish Australian experiences, perspectives and contributions. These shortlisted and winning are not a comprehensive overview of all the books either by Jewish authors or books on Jewish subjects published in 2024, but it is a strong, exciting and diverse list, a compelling snapshot of contemporary Jewish life and writing in Australia.
"I am proud to see amongst the entries and shortlists fiction, poetry, memoir, academic works, theatre scripts, cookbooks, biography and much more. These Awards are a true celebration of the diversity, richness and strength of Australian Jewish culture and writing.”
About the Awards:
Shalom Collective creates contemporary Jewish experiences to celebrate culture, strengthen identity and build a thriving community. Through these awards, Shalom Collective aims to inspire and support current and future Australian Jewish authors, and to promote their writing to wide audiences. Shalom Collective also runs the Sydney Jewish Writers Festival, and this award has received support from Melbourne Jewish Book Week.
About Shalom Collective:
Through innovative programs and strategic partnerships, we provide opportunities for deep, meaningful engagement with Jewish identity and culture, offering individuals experiences to explore and connect with their heritage through a contemporary lens. Our goal is to cultivate inclusive spaces where each individual program participant feels valued, challenged, and inspired, sparking connections that strengthen
community ties to share in the experience of Jewish life together.
Anna Stern:
THE WINNER ANNOUNCEMENTS:
2025 Shalom Collective Australian Jewish Writer Awards.
The winners for books published in 2024 were announced at a ceremony in August 2025 held at Woollahra Library, Double Bay, Australia.
The Leslie and Sophie Caplan Award for Jewish Non-Fiction:
Winner: Dr Jana Vytrhlik, Treasures of Old Jewish Sydney, published by Longueville Media
Judges’ comments: In Treasures of Old Jewish Sydney Dr Jana Vytrhlik’s curatorial and historical skills are on display as she brings together artefacts, images, documents and architecture to recreate and retell the very beginnings of Sydney’s Jewish community.
An extraordinary work of historical recovery, it is also a visually stunning book that brings the personalities and places of Sydney’s early community to life. Accompanied by original essays, this volume has filled a much- needed gap in the historiography, and in so doing has enriched our knowledge of Jewish life, practice and history in Australia.
About the award: $10,000 for works of significant relevance to the Jewish experience. The 2024 winner was former editor-in-chief Michael Gawenda for My Life as a Jew. This year, the judges selected a range of books across various genres: narrative non-fiction, academic, investigative memoir, and illustrated monograph.
Shortlist: Anna Jacobson, How to Knit a Human: A Memoir; Jayne Persian, Fascists in Exile; John Safran, Squat; Michael Visontay, Noble Fragments
The Jewish Independent Young Jewish Writers Award:
Winner: Ellie Bouhadana, Ellie's Table: Food from Memory and Food from Home, published by Hardie Grant.
Judge's comments: Ellie’s Table is more than a cookbook—it’s an elegant act of cultural retrieval, a weaving of cultural memory into the textures of inherited cuisine. What distinguishes Bouhadana’s debut is not just the recipes themselves, though many—like her Roman fried zucchini or chapter on focaccia and whipped butters—are genuinely tempting.
It’s the way she structures the book like a dinner party, guiding the reader not through courses but through relationships, rituals, and
remembered gestures.
The writing is clear but emotionally textured, capturing the quiet intimacy of a safta’s kitchen or the improvisational joy of shared meals during lockdown. Without overstating its own premise, the book locates a living Jewishness not in abstraction but in salt, oil, repetition, and care. It's a moving and beautifully realised debut.
About the award: $5,000 for works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry on Jewish subjects by authors aged 18-40. The 2024 winner was poet and artist Anna Jacobson for the poetry collection, Anxious in a Sweet Store. This year’s shortlist includes an illustrated cookbook, and memoir.
Shortlist: Dassi Erlich with Ellen Whinnett, In Bad Faith; Anna Jacobson, How to Knit a Human: A Memoir.
The Szymon (Simon) Klitenik Award for Jewish Fiction:
Winner: Linda Margolin Royal, The Star on the Grave, published by Affirm Press
Judges’ comments: The Star on the Grave by Linda Margolin Royal brings to life a story that has been underrepresented in Holocaust literature - that of ambassador, Chiune Sugihara, often
referred to as the Japanese Schindler. Through measured and evocative prose, Margolin Royal layers storylines beautifully, moving between timelines and perspectives without losing clarity, and gracefully taking the reader along with her. The emotional arc is subtle but devastating, drawing people into the lives of characters who feel real and flawed.
Rather than retread familiar ground, The Star on the Grave finds freshness in its approach, using family secrets, buried grief and how we make sense of loss to preserve history, while addressing themes of identity, resilience and healing. A moving read.
About the award: $5,000 for a fiction book (novel or a collection of short stories). This year’s shortlist includes contemporary fiction, historical fiction, fable and romance.
Shortlist: Shelley Davidow, The Girl with the Violin; Joanne Fedler, The Whale’s Last Song; Jonathan Seidler, All the Beautiful Things You Love.
The Edith Hausmann Award for Jewish Playwrights:
Winner: Elise Hearst, Batsheva.
Judges’ comments: Batsheva is a beautifully poetic and restrained monologue. It makes contemporary, current and relevant the inherent humanity of one of the most beautiful, symbolic and controversial stories in the Bible, and in turn, Jewish culture. What is particularly exciting about this work is its ambiguity.
It achieves a rare but very important literary quality of activating the reader (and hopefully the spectator). It doesn’t unpack every detail of meaning, but rather, like poetry or music, invites the reader to participate, to analyse and to respond, individually.
So many aspects of the story are imagined subjectively, which puts us in conversation with the work, authoring our own imagined understanding. The potential of this script is truly great.
About the award: $10,000 prize for a full-length unproduced play of any genre that engages in some capacity with Jewish subjects written by a Jewish Australian writer aged 18-45.
Highly Commended: Ziggy Enoch, The Flood; Zoe (Ziggy) Resnick Untitled; Jessica Bellamy Daughter to his Blood; Adiel Cohen Pigging Out: A Play that’s off the derech
The Rosalind Sharbanee Meyer Award for Young Jewish Storytellers:
Winner: Short Story category: Hayley Kaplan, The Question in the Margin
Judges’ comments: The Question in the Margin holds deep observation and specificity of details that connects the reader to the narrator in Sydney. A narrator who compassionately works with her parts of self to understand her whole self and who she wants to be through her faith. Hayley Kaplan doesn't shy away from complexities and nuances and tackles her topic with courage, honesty, and passion. This is effective storytelling of an inner journey, through meaningful prose.
Winner, Poetry category: Mimi Baron, Dear Liri.
Judges’ comments: Finding moments of hope in the ceremonies and songs of her Jewish culture, this is a powerful epistolary poem from Mimi Barton to Liri, that gives goosebumps and stays with the reader. Braiding timelines like challah, the poet shares her experiences and thoughts, including during one Shabbat prior to Rosh Hashanah in Sydney. Dear Liri explores what it means to live with courage and hold faith, honouring Liri and what she represents to the poet: strength. As the poet
experiences and witnesses rising antisemitism in Australia and her city of Sydney, she finds solace by connecting with Liri's strength. This is generous and intimate storytelling through poetry.
About the award: $600 for three prizes for unpublished short fiction, nonfiction or poetry by 18-35 yr olds that captures their Jewish experience in Sydney.
Runner up: Sophie Rosen, Matzo Do About Nothing.
Highly commended: Manon Gur, Letter to Shiri.
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