Every second Friday, since 1919 a group of women from Australia get together to discuss reading and writing. Now celebrating the 91st anniversary of the Mont Albert Reading Circle, The Age looks at the formation of the group and how it stands today.
The group was set up in 1919, due to the fact that women who got married had to leave empolyment. Women sought out intellectual stimulation from other women in similar situations to themselves and thus the group was created.
Since that first meeting, there have been over 2,000 meetings at the same time, and quite unbelievably, there has never been a break. The ages of the group vary from mid fifties to mid nineties and have an ambition to keep the tradition alive.
An earlier member wrote in the 1992 Circle heritage paper, ''I sometimes wonder if, when my time comes to make the final crossing, I shall find, on that further shore, a little group of women who, having felt the celestial palaces to be lacking in one regard, have formed an Everlasting Reading Circle. I hope so.''
