Helen Garner

In this very special event, two generations of Australian reportage royalty come together, as the world- renowned Helen Garner interviews Anna Krien, one of the brightest writers of her generation, about her new book, Night Games: Sex, Power and Sport.

Anna Krien was shortlisted for just about every literary prize in the country for her groundbreaking debut about Tasmania’s logging industry, Into the Woods – described by Chloe Hooper as ‘an intimate, urgent book pulsing with truth’.

Night Games is another balanced and fearless work of investigative reportage, as Krien ventures into the murky world of football culture, as it relates to women.

In the tradition of Garner’s The First Stone, this is a closely observed look at sex, consent and power. At its centre is Krien’s account of the rape trial of a footballer.

What does a young footballer do to cut loose? At night, some play what they think of as pranks, or games – involving women. These games sometimes involve consensual sex, but sometimes they don’t … and sometimes they fall into a grey area.

This is the world of Sam Newman, Ricky Nixon, Matty Johns, the Cronulla Sharks. A world where women are there to service men, or to bring them together. A world of prolonged adolescence. (rodneyvc)… (mere)

There’s a huge public appetite for non-fiction storytelling in all its forms, from literary and political essays to the shelf-filling genre of memoir, and the much-maligned reality TV. This is a chance for readers and writers alike to hear the perspective of four very different voices, all keynote speakers for the NonfictioNow conference.

Helen Garner is the author of novels that draw on life, and non-fiction with novelistic tendencies. David Shields, author of Reality Hunger: A Manifesto has been described as ‘a benevolent and broad-minded revolutionary’ by the New York Times. Jose Dalisay Jr is a director of the Institute of Creative Writing in the Philippines, and the author of 25 books (both fiction and non-fiction). And Margo Jefferson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning cultural critic and a former staff writer for the New York Times.

This event will be chaired by Michael Cathcart, presenter of ABC Radio National’s Books and Arts Daily.

$20 and $12 concession. (trackbianca)… (mere)

Helen Garner, Luke Davies, Christos Tsiolkas, Samuel Wagan Watson, The Children's Bach.

Major Australian literary figures and important developing writers discuss the major influences on their literary education. Helen Garner, Luke Davies, Christos Tsiolkas and Samuel Wagan Watson discuss the works and writers who inspired and influenced them, shaping their style, themes and careers as writers. Hosted by Mary Kostakidis and introduced by Imre Salusinszky. (shawjonathan)… (mere)