Meeting #4: Helen Garner Edition

Helen Garner’s name is synonymous with excellence and rigour in narrative non-fiction today. She’s famous for spare yet stirring prose, dark subject matter and brutal introspection (the New Yorker’s James Wood called her a ‘savage self-scrutineer’).

In our final Longform Society meeting for 2017 – and as her collections, Stories and True Stories, are republished – we’ll explore some seminal essays from this peerless figure in Australian writing.

Chime in with your own perspectives – in the room, or online (the event will be live streamed) – as our panel consider Garner’s craft, her impact and the essays that have stayed with them. Our texts include examples of her early work, and her most influential stories.

The texts:

• ‘Killing Daniel’ (1993)
• ‘The Art of the Dumb Question’ (1996)
• ‘Sighs Too Deep for Words’ (2001)

(PDFs are no longer available for download.)

For regular links to the reading list, and live stream reminders, subscribe to the Longform Society’s emails below. (If you want to come along, you’ll also need to book a ticket.)