This week's Guardian Australia weekend wrap brings together five compelling stories that offer intimate glimpses into remarkable lives, from acting legends to literary icons and voices from conflict zones.
Helen Garner's Late-Career Triumph
At 82 years old, Australian writer Helen Garner is experiencing an extraordinary career peak. Her first novel was once dismissed by critics as little more than a published private journal. Decades later, she has claimed the UK's top nonfiction prize for an 800-page collection of her actual diaries spanning 1978 to 1998.
Garner spoke with The Guardian just hours after receiving the prestigious award, expressing amazement that "my street cred has gone through the roof!" Long celebrated as a national treasure in Australia, the writer often compared to Joan Didion has finally gained international recognition as she approaches her 83rd birthday.
The collected diaries have been hailed by Guardian reviewers as the greatest journals since Virginia Woolf's, marking a significant moment in literary recognition for the acclaimed author.
Uncovering Genocide in Gaza
Navi Pillay, the first nonwhite woman to serve on South Africa's high court and the UN's longest-serving human rights commissioner, returns repeatedly to one particular incident in Gaza. She describes a single shell fired by the Israel Defense Forces at Al-Basma fertility clinic in December 2023 as emblematic of the destruction facing Palestinian families.
This year's Sydney peace prize recipient cited this attack among numerous incidents that led her commission to conclude Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. Pillay expressed disappointment that the report hasn't generated the global response she anticipated, drawing parallels to the anti-apartheid movement in her native South Africa.
"You might think, well, how is it going to help the struggle if I stop eating an orange? Well, it did. Collective action helped achieve the impossible," she told The Guardian.
Paul McCartney's Scottish Escape
At just 27 years old, as the Beatles were dissolving, Paul McCartney found himself at the centre of a bizarre global rumour that he had died. In an extract from his new book, the musician recalls how millions of fans genuinely believed he was gone.
Seeking refuge from the chaos, McCartney and his wife Linda retreated to the 183-acre Scottish sheep farm he'd purchased three years earlier. "Looking back, we were totally unprepared for this wild adventure," he writes of their rural idyll where he learned shearing and cement mixing while Linda developed recipes for her famous cookbook.
The family embraced country life completely, with children riding horses and picking vegetables from the garden, creating what appears in both new and archival interviews as a genuinely peaceful interlude during turbulent times.
Remembering Sudan's Truth-Teller
The humanitarian community mourns Mohamed Khamis Douda, the official spokesperson for Zamzam displacement camp in Sudan's Darfur region, who was killed when paramilitary Rapid Support Forces overran El Fasher on October 26.
Douda had remained in the besieged city for months, working tirelessly to inform the outside world about the deteriorating conditions. In regular dispatches to The Guardian, he described a life where even the glow of a cigarette could alert overhead drones, forcing residents to sit in darkness after meals, listening to explosions and buzzing aircraft.
Peace campaigners have described him as one of the true heroes of the war, whose loss represents a significant blow to civil society in Sudan.
Anthony Hopkins on Life and Art
Sir Anthony Hopkins, who turns 88 this December, remains remarkably active and reflective in a comprehensive profile that covers everything from losing his home in LA wildfires to being asleep when he won his second Oscar.
The revered actor discusses the event that finally prompted him to join Alcoholics Anonymous, leading to fifty years of sobriety. He reveals that for him, the essence of acting "is to be able to listen" – a philosophy he demonstrated memorably during Silence of the Lambs.
Hopkins recalled director Jonathan Demme asking how he wanted to be discovered in his first scene with Jodie Foster. "I said: 'Standing.' He said: 'OK. Why?' I said: 'I can smell her coming down the corridor.' He said: 'You're weird,'" Hopkins remembered with characteristic humour.
The profile includes a charming childhood photograph of Sir Anthony at five years old, providing a poignant glimpse into the early life of one of cinema's most distinguished actors.
