From my visit in August 2O15
Meeting up with poets Jennie Fraine (left) and Leah Kaminsky (centre). We three have been friends and colleagues for decades.
Leah was about to launch her first novel, the much acclaimed The Waiting Room, set in Haifa, Israel. She took a long time perfecting it – which you may understand when I tell you she was raising children and working as a General Practitioner at the same time. Jennie and I were privy to some early drafts and even precursors of this novel.
I don't live in Melbourne any more, and Leah had recently spent a lot of time out of Australia. We wanted a private get-together before the large public occasion of the launch.
Another day I paid a visit to City Basement Books for some good second-hand volumes.
This photo was taken a few nights later, at Leah's book launch. Here is Leah trying not to blush during a delightful speech by Graeme Simsion, author of The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect. He said he read The Kite Runner at much the same time as Leah's book, and was interested to note that the scenes and characters of The Waiting Room stayed with him far more vividly afterwards.
The book itself, which very soon sold out.
The launch was at Readings book shop, St Kilda. My son David was my escort.
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