Books and Ideas at Montalto

The Wheeler Centre presents thoughtful conversations about Australian literature – away from the lights of Melbourne, at Montalto Vineyard & Olive Grove on the Mornington Peninsula.

How do we maintain friendships as we age? How do these friendships impact who we are – or who we become? And … exactly how should we grow old? Charlotte Wood asks these questions of aging and friendship in her highly-anticipated new novel, The Weekend – about three women in their 70s who gather to clean out the house of their friend Sylvie after her death.

The lives and stories of women are at the core of Wood’s writing. The author of six novels and one book of non-fiction, Wood won the 2016 Stella Prize for her extraordinary novel The Natural Way of Things. She has been longlisted and shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award, and was recently awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for her services to literature.

At Montalto with host Elizabeth McCarthy, Wood discusses mortality, female friendship and the dilemmas that face women as they age.