The godmother of Australian letters, Helen Garner, has found chart-topping success yet again with The Season, her first full-length work in a decade. Garner is now in her 80s. “Beyond a certain age women become invisible in public spaces,” Garner once wrote. She is far from alone in her observation that ageing women are often discarded by society, but this frequently leads to the most profound creative work.Â
Garner is the latest in a paradigm-shifting year for public perceptions of mature women, who have always been bastions of innovative and celebrated creative work. Alexis Wright, whose work Praiseworthy picked up the Stella Prize and the Miles Franklin Literary Award in 2024, is over 65. Many of Australia’s most celebrated artists, such as Judy Watson, Kate Grenville and Patricia Piccinini, are creating some of their most celebrated work in their ‘third act’.
