19 Dec 2015

Robert Dessaix: adoption, love and writing

From Saturday Morning, 9:05 am on 19 December 2015
Photo of Robert Dessaix

Robert Dessaix Photo: supplied

Robert Dessaix's musings about love and death and the meaning of life have made him one of Australia’s best loved writers. His books and essays are informed by his travels, his passion for Russia and Russian, his deep literary knowledge and a kind of outsider status – gay, adopted – belied by his rich and multicultural friendships.

The Hobart-based writer's books include the memoirs A Mother’s Disgrace (1994, A&R Classics), and What Days Are For: a Collection of Musings (2012, Vintage). He is a guest at Writer’s Week at the 2016 New Zealand Festival, where he will talk about Enid Blyton (12 March).

"I really don't think that anyone is interested in little Robert's life.They're interested in their own lives. And what they read me for – I think – is the permission that I give them to tell themselves and their friends their own stories."