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This page is part of the 2009 FESTIVAL ARCHIVE.
Visit the current Melbourne Writers Festival website for details of the next festival.

Howard Goldenberg

Howard Goldenberg
Howard Goldenberg is the author of the highly successful memoir, My Father's Compass (Hybrid, 2007, 2008), a work much praised by its author. His second book is the nonfiction work, Raft (Hybrid, 2009) - an intimate and candid account of his work as a doctor in dozens of remote indigenous communities, over many years.

Howard comes from a long line of fabulists, dreamers and dandruff manufacturers. On his father's side, he is descended from the Gaon (genius) of Vilna, and on his mother's side from Cyril Coleman, pearl diver, polo player and one-stringed concert violinist, of Broome.

Labouring in a traditional cottage industry, employing the most modest equipment, without publicity, fanfare or government subsidy, Howard and his wife Annette have created three children. In turn, those children have applied themselves diligently to the reproductive arts, rewarding their parents with numerous grandchildren.

Howard reads poetry, eats voraciously and is a bold experimental cook. He has run 36 marathons and 63 circuits of the sun.

His mother is proud of him.

"Life is like the marathon, he says, "an undistinguished passage made rich by the encounters along the way".
The Age, Martin Flanagan
Howard Goldenberg will be appearing in:

Howard Goldenberg and Rupert Isaacson ask if love gets in the way of truth?
Howard Goldenberg and Rupert Isaacson ask if love gets in the way of truth?
Raft, by Howard Goldenberg, is a funny, tragic, and poignant account of the human face of indigenous health in outback Australia.