Writers Book Club: Julie Keys on Helen Garner
Schedule
Thu, 26 Feb, 2026 at 09:00 am
UTC+11:00Location
RED POINT ARTS | Wollongong, NS
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Join us for our next Writers Book Club! Julie Keys, author of The Artist's Portrait and facilitator of SCWC writing workshops, leads a discussion on Helen Garner's How to End a Story.Thursday 26 February, 7pm for a 7:15 start
Red Point Arts, Port Kembla
In one of her three, much lauded, published diaries Helen Garner writes: "I think I might burn all these diaries. What if I died and people got hold of them and read them? Their endless self obsession, anecdotes, self-excuses, rationalisations. Meanness about others.’
Garner has recently been awarded the prestigious Baillie Gifford Prize for this work she once contemplated burning. It’s the first time a collection of diaries has won the prize and a unanimous choice for the judges who deemed it ‘remarkable’ and ‘addictive’.
Writer Julie Keys has chosen the third of these diaries (How to End a Story 1995 – 1998), a narrative she describes as swinging between the day-to-day and the explosive, for SCWC’s upcoming writers book club. "We see Helen making dinner, sewing curtains and fielding fierce disapproval about her recent publication The Last Stone, all the while navigating a tumultuous marriage and self-doubts about her writing. How to End a Story is a richly rewarding read – not only sharply observed and propulsive but totally relatable. I’m very keen to discuss all things Helen – both the acclaim and the criticism – and to hear your thoughts on the ins and outs of this book."
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Where is it happening?
RED POINT ARTS, 100 Wentworth Street,Wollongong,NSW,AustraliaEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
