Keynote Speakers

Helen Garner

Helen Garner was born in Geelong in 1942. Her award-winning books include novels, stories, screenplays and works of non-fiction, including The First Stone (1995) and Joe Cinque's Consolation (2004). The Spare Room is her first work of fiction in fifteen years.

'A perfect novel, imbued with all Garner's usual clear-eyed grace but with some other magnificent dimension that hides between the lines of her simple conversational voice. How is it that she can enter this heart-breaking territory--the dying friend who comes to stay--and make it not only bearable, but glorious, and funny? There is no answer except: Helen Garner is a great writer; The Spare Room is a great book.' Peter Carey