Helen Burns

Bio

Helen Burns is an Australian writer and poet. After devoting three years to Asian Studies with a major in Hindi at The Australian National University, the call to venture deeper overtook the need for a degree. Travel to India and beyond continues to fuel her writing life. Helen’s first book The Way is a River of Stars, a Camino memoir, was published in 2013. Her recent debut novel Andal’s Garland (Odyssey Books, 2021) is a story steeped in the mythical lore of Tamil Nadu. an ancient and contemporary tale of two women. Its companion volume A Garland of Love, created in collaboration with photographer Alison Taylor, contains Helen’s interpretive translations of verses composed by Andal, the eighth century Tamil poet and goddess. Her work has ben awarded residencies at Byron Bay Writers Festival, Hachette / Queensland Writers Centre and Varuna, Australia’s National Writers House.