‘It takes some maturity to realise what you can and can’t do: I’m a late bloomer’

Israeli-Australian writer Ben Sharafski tells Paula Towers about the slow gestation of his collection of short stories, and the support he got from iconic poet Les Murray

FANTASY COLLIDES WITH fact in Ben Sharafski’s recently published collection of six interlinked stories, titled Returning to Carthage. An Israeli-Australian writer living in Sydney's northern beaches, Sharafski describes the book as “autobiographical fiction”.

“The stories are inspired by some actual emotional crises in my life,” Sharafski told The Jewish Independent. “The protagonist is loosely based on me but there are a lot of features that are imaginary... fictional events and characters were added to make the structure coherent.”

The title flags the author’s overarching theme: “Carthage presents a fascinating blend of the oddly familiar and the exotic,” he writes in his short story that references the city, which was founded in Tunisia in the eighth century and prospered from the wisdom and skills of other ancient civilisations. The story was also driven by his interest in ancient coins, similarities across Semitic languages and his early life experiences in Israel.

From ancient cultures to more recent ones, Sharafski traverses time into modern history and through generations, from World War II Manchuria to a contemporary Sydney wedding, linking countries across Asia, Australia and Europe.

Through his journey, he examines cultural clash, different sensitivities and humour and its impact on families and the world as people navigate through sometimes murky emotional waters towards safe harbour. Along the way, life’s sentimental moments are sometimes revealed in the smaller details – for example, the familiar tune of Greensleeves heralds the joyful arrival of ice cream for him, as well as his small daughter.

Though he became serious about writing around eight years ago, Sharafski, now in his mid-50s, traces his interest in writing back to his youth. “When I was a soldier in Israel, conscription was a horrible period in my life, military service was really depressing. I was stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do, with no stimulation.”