Name: Secrets of My Camphorwood Chest: A Family History of Jews in Iraq, India and Singapore, by Jay Pross
Start: 2025-02-20T18:00:00+00:00
Location: 190 Cheetham Hill Road, M88 Manchester, United Kingdom

Secrets of My Camphorwood Chest: A Family History of Jews in Iraq, India and Singapore, by Jay Pross

Join author Jay Prosser as he presents his prize-winning recent book, ‘Loving Strangers: A Camphorwood Chest, a Legacy, a Son Returns’.
Jay Prosser’s ‘Loving Strangers: A Camphorwood Chest, a Legacy, a Son Returns’ is a powerful family memoir reimagining Jewish identity beyond the familiar landscapes of Europe and the Holocaust, journeying through Iraq, India, China and Singapore. Claudia Roden describes it as “a beautiful and moving story that brings to life a fascinating part of Jewish history.” The book explores themes of immigration, intermarriage and integration.
Join Jay as he unpacks the family camphorwood chest his mother brought with her when she migrated from Singapore. The author will use a selection of striking images from the book to tell the extraordinary stories of some of his ancestors who lived – and loved across racial and religious divides – in Asia.
Jay’s presentation will be followed by a Q&A open to the audience and hosted by Sherry Ashworth.
Jay Prosser is Professor in Humanities at the University of Leeds, where he specialises in Jewish studies and teaching family memoir. He is author and editor of books on diverse subjects. His writing has appeared in Jewish Renaissance, The Jewish Chronicle, JewThink, and The Jewish Writing Project, among other places.
Sherry Ashworth is an alumna of the University of Manchester, where she was awarded an MA in Jewish Studies and subsequently a doctorate in 2023 for her research on the Book of Esther and the nineteenth century novel. She writes fiction and continues to research biblical narrative. She lives in Manchester and is a volunteer guide at Manchester Jewish Museum.