Life
Garner was born in Geelong, Victoria, the eldest of six children. She attended Manifold Heights State School, Ocean Grove State School and then The Hermitage in Geelong. She went on to study at the University of Melbourne, residing at Janet Clarke Hall, and graduating with a Bachelor of Arts with majors in English and French.
Between 1966 and 1972 Garner worked as a high-school teacher at various Victorian high schools. During this time, in 1967, she also travelled overseas and met Bill Garner, whom she married in 1968 on their return to Australia. Her only child, the actor, musician and writer Alice Garner, was born in 1969, and her marriage ended in 1971.
In 1972, she was sacked by the Victorian Department of Education for "giving an unscheduled sex-education lesson to her 13-year old students at Fitzroy High School". The case was widely publicised in Melbourne, bringing Garner a degree of notoriety.
Garner married two more times: Jean-Jacques Portail (1980–85) and Australian writer Murray Bail (born 1941). She is no longer married.
In 2003 a portrait of Garner, titled True Stories, painted by Jenny Sages, was a finalist in the Archibald Prize.
Read more about this topic: Helen Garner
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