25 Jun 2022

Sarah Jane Barnett: a coming-of-middle-age story

From Saturday Morning, 11:05 am on 25 June 2022
Cover of Notes on Womanhood by Sarah Jane Barnett

Photo: Supplied

After getting a hysterectomy in her early 40s, poet and writer Sarah Jane Barnett was prompted to examine what “being a woman” really means. What started as a personal writing project quickly turned into a manifesto-of-sorts for women entering this middle-phase of life. The result is Barnett’s third book, Notes on Womanhood.

In this exploration of womanhood, Barnett looks back at the devastation she inflicted on herself as a young woman, the invisibility she feels as her youth fades, the power of female friendship, and how being the daughter of a transgender woman changed her ideas of womanhood. 

Author and poet Sarah Jane Barnett

Photo: Supplied