In collaboration with Nillumbik Shire Council and Yarra Plenty Regional Library, and to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Alan Marshall Short Story Award, Montsalvat is hosting a celebration of writing in honour of the memory of one of the great contributors to the cultural life in our Shire: Gwen Ford – gardener, writer, artist, social justice advocate, and friend to an entire community. 

The guest speaker will be Helen Garner, one of Australia’s most loved – and read – writers. Helen will discuss This House of Grief, her most recent work, described by Peter Craven as ‘A magnificent book about the majesty of the law and the terrible matter of the human heart.’ 

The evening will include a reading by Dennis Coard of the 2014 Alan Marshall Short Story Award Open Section winning story Last Man Standing by Michelle Wright.

Gwen Ford, whose anniversary falls in late March, was intimately involved with the Shire’s Alan Marshall Short Story Award. Helen Garner is former judge of the competition. So all things come together for an evening of talk and fellowship.

Helen Garner was born in 1942 in Geelong, and was educated there and at Melbourne University. Her first novel, Monkey Grip, came out in 1977, won the 1978 National Book Council Award, and was adapted for film in 1981. Her novel, The Spare Room won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction, the Queensland Premier’s Award for Fiction and the Barbara Jefferis Award, and has been translated into many languages.

Bookings essential. Please call (03) 9439 7712