The invisible arrow - Griffith Review

How do you stop writing? Helen Garner confesses to copping what the French call un coup de vieux – ‘a blow of old’ – as she confronts the changing shape of her work as one of Australia’s most acclaimed writers.

How does one stop writing? Featured in Published 20200505 ISBN: 9781922268761 Extent: 264pp Paperback (234 x 153mm), eBook WHY DID THEY ask me for an essay about stopping writing? And why did I say yes? Did I tell someone I’d stopped? Have I stopped? I could, if I wanted to, couldn’t I? I’m seventy-seven and I’m pretty tired. And lately I think I’ve copped what the French call ‘un coup de vieux’: a blow of old. I’ve got arthritis in my left wrist, my right knee gives twinges, and my left foot sometimes aches and stabs all day. Other days, nothing hurts at all. I don’t know what this…

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