Arnold Zable is an acclaimed writer, novelist, human rights activist, and the recipient of the 2021 Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature. His books include Jewels and Ashes, Wanderers and Dreamers, Café Scheherazade, Scraps of Heaven, Sea of Many Returns, The Fig Tree, Violin Lessons, The Fighter and most recently, The Watermill. Zable has written numerous stories, features, essays, columns, and works for theatre and radio. He has lectured widely on writing, human rights issues, the art of story, and performed as a storyteller, throughout Australia and internationally; and has a doctorate from the School of Creative Arts, Melbourne University.