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Open Page with Helen Garner

September 2019, no. 414

Open Page with Helen Garner

September 2019, no. 414

Where are you happiest?

At the desk, in the moment between putting a full-stop and rereading the sentence.

What’s your idea of hell?

Not being able to read for ten days after cataract surgery.

What do you consider the most specious virtue?

Comments (2)

  • Helen Garner is always interesting and this Q&A is no exception. I completely agree about the festivals in smaller centres. Perhaps my favourite session ever was in Mildura with David Malouf and Chris Wallace-Crabbe in conversation. My experience with Joan Didion, though, is diametrically opposed to Helen Garner's. I tried reading her when I was in my twenties and it just didn't resonate. I picked up 'Play It As It Lays' this year, aged fifty-five, and I was deeply moved and impressed. Best of all, I am glad that Helen remains a 'bottomless pit of existential uncertainty'. That surely means we can still look forward to her magnificent writing for a while yet.
    Posted by Mark Lamont
    19 May 2020
  • I love reading her essay on grandmothers.
    Posted by Sue POLSON
    11 September 2019

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