Helen Garner & Elena Kats-Chernin

All of our lives have soundtracks. We cherish certain songs that have meant something to us, and lyrics that have helped us through tough times and inspired us to do better, or think differently. Similarly, most of us have a mental shortlist of seminal books, short stories or poems that have made a difference to us – pieces of writing that have formed who we are.

Who do our favourite writers listen to? What do the musicians we admire love to read?

In our third instalment of Words and Music, world-renowned writer Helen Garner meets Uzbekistan-born classical composer and pianist Elena Kats-Chernin.

Garner’s much-anticipated new book, House of Grief, is a heart-rending, insightful courtroom drama brought to life – in the same vein as Joe Cinque’s Consolation. Kats-Chernin, meanwhile, has composed for concert halls, opera houses and state theatres in Berlin, Vienna, Hamburg and Bochum, as well as the Australian Ballet’s Wild Swans.

Helen will tell us about two pieces of music that have inspired her work as a writer, while Elena reveals two pieces of writing that have helped shape her musical direction. We eavesdrop on their exchange of treasures, and the conversation that ensues.

Hosted by Genevieve Lacey.

Presented in partnership with The Substation.