I have mentioned Helen Garner several times in this blog, and the word I tend to use about her is "honest". Her fiction is very much about "self". And in her non-fiction that I've read - Joe Cinque's consolation and The first stone - her "self" is an integral part. She is not what you'd … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Helen Garner on writing about self
Helen Garner
Helen Garner, Cosmo cosmolino
When I returned to seriously reading Australian writers back in the 1980s, there were four women writers who caught my attention, and I have loved them ever since. They were Elizabeth Jolley (1923-2007), Thea Astley (1925-2004), Olga Masters (1919-1986) and Helen Garner (b. 1942). Garner, the youngest by a couple of decades, is the only … Continue reading Helen Garner, Cosmo cosmolino
Helen Garner, The children’s Bach
I've said a few times now that I rarely reread books, and then go on to write about something I've re-read. I must look like a liar, but the fact is that if I've liked a book so much that I've reread it it's likely to find its way here. The funny thing is, though, … Continue reading Helen Garner, The children’s Bach
Whispering Gums 