Michael Baum and Paul Boorstin discuss why biblical stories remain a rich source of inspiration. Michael Baum’s novel Aaron’s Rod is a murder mystery, taking the reader on a gripping quest for an ancient artefact from the Assyrian conquest, via 20th century Hampstead, to modern day Israel. Paul Boorstin’s fiction David and the Philistine Woman tells the story of David and Goliath from the perspective of Nara, Goliath’s betrothed, in a witty and richly-embroidered narrative.

Michael Baum, Professor Emeritus of Surgery at UCL, published his memoir Breast Beating: A Personal Odyssey in the Quest for an Understanding of Breast Cancer, the Meaning of Life and Other Easy Questions in 2010. Since retiring, he has spent his time teaching and promoting ‘Medical Humanities’ including fine art, literature and philosophy.

Paul Boorstin is an award-winning documentary film-maker and screenwriter whose work has appeared on Discovery, A&E and the History Channel. A resident of Los Angeles, he graduated magna cum laude from Princeton and attended UCLA Graduate School of Film. He has travelled the world making documentaries for National Geographic, and his screenplays have been produced as motion pictures by Paramount and 20th Century Fox. He is also a blogger for the Huffington Post and a contributor to the LA Times.

Rina Wolfson is a Jewish educator and freelance writer. She has recently returned to full-time study and is currently researching for a PhD in Biblical Art as Visual Commentary.