Last modified on Thu 6 May 2021 20.23 EDT
What happens when an Australian medical research institute “throw[s] a creative writer into the mix”?
Emily Maguire’s latest novel emerged out of a $100,000 fellowship from the University of Sydney Charles Perkins Centre. The centre focuses on lifestyle diseases: the “things we give ourselves”, as Maguire put it, during a thought-provoking discussion of her new book, Love Objects, at Guardian Australia’s monthly Zoom book club on Friday.
The fellowship offered Maguire the opportunity to explore a character that had been “haunting” her for over a decade. The protagonist of Love Objects, Nic, has so much stuff in her house it almost literally kills her.
Guardian Australiaâs book club: join Emily Maguire to discuss hoarding, class and consent
In Maguireâs novel Love Objects, two women are embroiled in two different crises: one, a university sex scandal; the other, a diagnosis. Sheâll discuss how both intersect with class in a conversation with Lucy Clark â and with you
Emily Maguire and Lucy Clark will be discussing Love Objects and its themes at Guardian Australiaâs interactive book club on Friday 30 April. Composite: Sarah Wilson
Emily Maguire and Lucy Clark will be discussing Love Objects and its themes at Guardian Australiaâs interactive book club on Friday 30 April. Composite: Sarah Wilson
Words on the Waves Festival Day Program eventbrite.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eventbrite.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
As we stockpile wealth, toilet paper, novelist gives voice to a âhoarderâ
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By Caroline Baum
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On the spectrum of minimalism versus clutter, Emily Maguire considers herself somewhere in the middle. âI definitely hoard books, itâs an emotional attachment, and I am sentimental about photographs and drawings by nieces and nephews,â she concedes.
âBut when it comes to clothes, Iâd rather not think about them at all. My parents were very utilitarian, and we had no money for luxuries so our furniture was basic and Dad fixed everything to make it last. I was mystified by friends at uni who would talk about stuff like chairs.â