Meet Helen Schamroth, author of Eighteen for Life

Award-winning author Helen Schamroth has written a family memoir told through eighteen stories of tragic loss, chutzpah, cultural dislocation, unravelled mysteries, creativity and hope.

“There are secrets I will take to my grave,” Martha Ash told her daughters.

“I don’t want you to think I am a hero,” declared their father Feliks.

The past in Poland was to be left behind. Martha and Feliks were determined they would create a future in Melbourne and a loving family environment. It was time to enjoy the good life they could only dare to dream of as they struggled to survive the Holocaust.

Helen Schamroth and her sister Eve unraveled fragments of their parents’ harrowing experiences that were endured and overcome with extraordinary courage. Helen’s eighteen connected stories tell of unspeakable loss, cultural dislocation, chutzpah, hope, creativity, deception, and love.

About the Author: Helen Schamroth

Born in Poland, Helen Schamroth arrived in Melbourne with her parents in 1949 and has lived in Auckland, New Zealand since 1968. She has written extensively for national and international publications about craft and design, including her award-winning book "100 New Zealand Craft Artists". Her writing has evolved in parallel with her visual arts career, and she has exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Triennale of Tapestry in Lodz, Poland.

Working as an arts writer, arts consultant, curator and arts advocate, Helen has served on the Arts Board of Creative New Zealand and is a Life Member of the Designers' Institute of New Zealand. In 2005 she was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the arts.

 

Copies of Helen's book will be available for sale on the day - $45 by bank transfer or cash.

When

Location

Thames Library, 503 Mackay St, Thames, Thames, View Map