By Melissa Burns
Michael Visontay has worked for more than 30 years as a journalist, author and lecturer. He was a former assistant editor of the Sydney Morning Herald and deputy editor of the Sun-Herald, and is currently commissioning editor of The Jewish Independent.
At True Story Festival, Michael will join UOW's Sue Turnbull to discuss his latest book, Noble Fragments (Scribe Publications 2024), and how the desecration of one of the world’s rarest books sent him on an obsessive quest searching for clues. Save the date: Sunday, November 17, 11.30am-12.30pm at Coledale Community Hall. Tickets are available here.
What inspired you to you write the book you'll be speaking about at True Story Festival?
Following my mother’s death I was looking through old papers when I came across a mysterious legal document that linked my family to a man who was one of New York’s most important rare book dealers before World War 2. We were under lockdown during the pandemic and I had lots of time on my hands. I became obsessed with learning who this man was and what he had done to influence my family’s history.
Which book made you want to be a writer?
One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The author created a new world full of wonder and mystery, yet rooted in reality. His imagination was exhilarating. Every page I read felt like I was eating sunshine. It was thrilling to read and gave me a sense of how much pleasure existed in the world of writing.
The book you could never read again?
Remembrance of Things Past, by Marcel Proust. I read the whole thing, 3000-plus pages, during a long overseas trip in my 20s. I was shaking with excitement when I approached the end. I just don’t have the time to spend on one book anymore.
Your favourite book of 2024?
I only got around to reading Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver this year. Demon is a fictional reimagining of Dickens’ David Copperfield that follows the life of a young boy growing up as a poverty-stricken orphan in the south of the United States. Told in the boy’s voice, it is a devastating portrait of drug-addled social decay, from which Demon ultimately finds a measure of self-respect and redemption. Kingsolver’s ability to inhabit a young boy’s life makes this an instant classic.
True Story festival returns to Coledale Community Hall this weekend, find the full program here. Collins Booksellers Thirroul will have a stall on Saturday and Sunday with Noble Fragments and all the other featured books