HELEN FINDS HER THRILLS BY BAY
A BUMPER crowd packed into Geelong library last night to hear from homegrown author Helen Garner at the launch of Australia’s only nonfiction writing festival.
Garner is a headline feature at this year’s Word for Word event, which started yesterday and runs until tomorrow.
Speaking in front of more than 200 guests, the award-winning author opened up about her memories of growing up in Geelong.
She touched on her early years spent in Manifold Heights, while guests also heard about Garner’s old part-time job at a book store on Ryrie St, years before she hit fame.
“I don’t know what to say about Geelong . . . I sort of proudly say I’m from here,” she said.
“Looking at the bay just before — I felt this thrill. It’s beautiful.
“I swam in it a hell of a lot at Eastern Beach.”
Garner said she found the “Me Too” movement “thrilling” but that there were some extreme cases that took it too far.
“There’s always somebody who wants to hitch their wagon to whatever star,” she said.
Referencing sacked ABC boss Michelle Guthrie’s complaint that ABC chairman Justin Milne inappropriately rubbed her back, Garner said: “C’mon sister, that’s pathetic.”
The 76-year-old is known for novels including Monkey Grip, The Children’s Bach and The Spare Room.
In 2014, she also published This House of Grief, which covers the murder trial of Winchelsea man Robert Farquharson.
The Word for Word festival features more than 70 of Australia’s most intriguing writers, thinkers and personalities.
More than 35 events are being held across three days.
For more details, visit www.wordforwordfestival .com.au