Bram Presser Bram Presser i(A144718 works by)
Born: Established: 1976 Melbourne, Victoria, ;
Gender: Male
Heritage: Jewish
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Works By

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1 A Dead Song Bram Presser , 2023 single work short story
— Appears in: Into Your Arms : Nick Cave’s Songs Reimagined 2023; (p. 135-144)
1 That Sweet Promenade Bram Presser , 2022 single work prose
— Appears in: Minds Went Walking : Paul Kelly’s Songs Reimagined 2022; (p. 183-198)
1 Tales Wrenched from the Fire Bram Presser , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , March 2020;

— Review of Cafe Scheherazade Arnold Zable , 2001 single work novel

'In Acland Street, St Kilda, there is a small blue plaque beside the entrance to a clothing store, where once there stood a cafe called Scheherazade. I walk past it almost every day, this minor curiosity on an ever-changing thoroughfare. The plaque is easy to miss, and few people stop to read its inscription. But for those of us who remember the Babel-like din inside and schnitzels the size of a plate, that name –  Scheherazade – and the names Avram and Masha Zeleznikow draw us back to a tiny pocket of old Europe – lost Europe –  stitched into a seaside suburb in Melbourne at the farthest corner of the earth.' (Introduction)

2 5 y separately published work icon The Book of Dirt Bram Presser , Melbourne : Text Publishing , 2017 11521001 2017 single work novel historical fiction

'They chose not to speak and now they are gone. What's left to fill the silence is no longer theirs. This is my story, woven from the threads of rumour and legend.'

'Jakub Rand flees his village for Prague, only to find himself trapped by the Nazi occupation. Deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp, he is forced to sort through Jewish books for a so-called Museum of the Extinct Race. Hidden among the rare texts is a tattered prayer book, hollow inside, containing a small pile of dirt.

'Back in the city, Františka Roubíčková picks over the embers of her failed marriage, despairing of her conversion to Judaism. When the Nazis summon her two eldest daughters for transport, she must sacrifice everything to save the girls from certain death.

'Decades later, Bram Presser embarks on a quest to find the truth behind the stories his family built around these remarkable survivors.

'The Book of Dirt is a completely original novel about love, family secrets, and Jewish myths. And it is a heart-warming story about a grandson's devotion to the power of storytelling and his family's legacy.'

1 y separately published work icon Esther : Outside the Box Bram Presser , Mulgrave : John Garratt Publishing , 2014 14934876 2014 single work novella young adult

'When bad things happen, when things don't go according to plan, it's easy to say that you need to 'get over it' and 'move on'; it's much harder to actually do it. Esther never wanted to move on, especially not to a country town, especially not during a war. She was dragged there because her father thought it was right. Now he hides in a box all night and looks for heaven in the sky. Why couldn't she be normal, like everyone else? But when she becomes more 'normal', even becoming a member of the mysterious Junior Defence Squadron, things don't get any easier. Particularly when an enemy spy is found.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1 Crumbs Bram Presser , 2012 single work short story
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 7 January 2012; (p. 24-25) The Best Australian Stories 2012 2012; (p. 59-64) Award Winning Australian Writing 2012 2012; (p. 155-160)
1 The Prisoner of Babel Bram Presser , 2011 single work short story
— Appears in: The Sleepers Almanac : No. 7 2011; (p. 287-294)
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