Helen Garner was born in 1942; she had the greater part of her school education at The Hermitage, a private girls’ school in Geelong, Victoria; she completed a degree at the University of Melbourne, and worked for some years as a teacher in secondary schools. Her first novel,

, was published in 1977; since then she worked as a writer, producing a number of works of fiction, non-fiction and journalism. Her reputation rests substantially on her four novels and two extended works of non-fiction.

Fiction:

Fiction:

Monkey Grip won a National Book Council Award in 1978, and later became the basis for a feature film. Its particular success, not necessarily still obvious at the remove of 30 years, is in the extent to which it engaged its audience by giving voice to the experience

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Citation: Jones, Alexander. "Helen Garner". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 October 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1685, accessed 25 April 2024.]