Australia’s Helen Garner wins Baillie Gifford nonfiction prize for her ‘addictive’ diaries

Australian Author Helen Garner Wins Prestigious Baillie Gifford Prize for Her Candid Diaries

Australian writer Helen Garner has been awarded the esteemed Baillie Gifford Prize for nonfiction, receiving £50,000 ($65,000) for her deeply personal work, “How to End a Story.” The 82-year-old author’s collection of diaries, spanning two decades from 1978 to 1998, was unanimously selected by the six-member jury at Tuesday’s ceremony in London.

Jury chair and journalist Robbie Millen praised the 800-page work for its “sharp observation” and “reckless candor,” noting that Garner has elevated the diary format to new heights by skillfully blending intimate reflections with intellectual insights and everyday observations.

“There are places it’s toe-curlingly embarrassing. She puts it all out there,” Millen said, comparing Garner’s diaries favorably to those of Virginia Woolf in the canon of great literary works.

Speaking from Melbourne after the announcement, Garner expressed astonishment at winning such recognition for writing she had created solely for herself. “I never thought that I was writing for anyone but myself and that’s what’s good about them, I think—that I’m free when I’m writing,” she told The Associated Press.

The award marks a significant milestone as the first time a diary collection has won the Baillie Gifford Prize since its establishment in 1999. The prize recognizes outstanding English-language non-fiction across diverse genres including current affairs, history, politics, science, sports, travel, and biography.

“How to End a Story” offers readers an unflinchingly intimate account of Garner’s life, including the painful breakdown of a marriage, rendered with both unflinching detail and flashes of humor. Despite the vulnerability inherent in such public revelation, Garner described the reader response as life-affirming.

“What I write about—my life and my experience and my, not to put too fine a point on it, soul—there are so many people who know what I mean and who’ve been there,” she reflected. “The deeper I go, the more other people I find there.”

Though Garner has long been celebrated in Australia since her 1977 debut novel “Monkey Grip”—a semi-autobiographical story of a single mother in bohemian Melbourne now considered a modern classic—her international recognition has been more recent. Her diverse body of work spans novels, screenplays, true crime books, and novellas, including “The Children’s Bach” and “This House of Grief.”

Her profile received a notable boost earlier this year when global pop star Dua Lipa selected “This House of Grief” for her monthly book club. Lipa called Garner’s work “a thrilling discovery” and described her as “one of the most fascinating writers I have come across in years.”

Garner’s writing continues to engage with complex real-world events. Her latest work, “The Mushroom Tapes: Conversations on a Triple Murder Trial,” co-authored with another writer, explores the high-profile Australian case of Erin Patterson, who killed three of her estranged husband’s relatives with a lunch containing deadly death cap mushrooms. The book has just been released in Australia and the UK this month.

Millen noted that Garner’s international recognition has been delayed but is now catching up to her literary merit. “It has taken us a long while to work out how good she is,” he said. “Finally her status is being recognized, and I hope this will cement it.”

This marks the second consecutive year an Australian has claimed the Baillie Gifford Prize, following Tasmanian writer Richard Flanagan’s win last year for his genre-defying memoir “Question 7.” The back-to-back wins highlight the growing global recognition of Australia’s literary talent on the world stage.