Biography and memoir
2024 memoir highlights
2024 has seen an abundance of wonderful memoirs, amongst them many standouts from Australians including journalists, chefs, TV and radio personalities, and esteemed authors. We have curated a selection of thought-provoking and inspirational local and international books which will have you crying, laughing, and everything in between.
A Season of Death by Mark Raphael Baker
Mark Raphael Baker was no stranger to death. Over seven years he had become a mourner three times over – for his first wife, for…
2024 Pulitzer Prize winners announced
Writers Jayne Anne Phillips, Jonathan Eig, Ilyon Woo and Nathan Thrall were announced last night amongst the 2024 Pulitzer Prize winners.
Jayne Anne Phillips won the Fiction prize for her novel, Night Watch; Jonathan Eig and Ilyon Woo jointly won the biography prize for their respective works, King: The Life of Martin Luther King and Master Slave Husband Wife; and Nathan Thrall won in the Nonfiction category for A Day in the Life of Abed Salama.
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Great music books from 2023
This year was another fantastic one for music books. Below you'll find a selection of our favourites that include memoir, essay, nonfiction and even the fashion of an icon.
Half Deaf, Completely Mad by Tony Cohen & John Olson
Maverick music producer-engineer Tony Cohen defined Australia’s punk and rock sounds in the late ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. His long and celebrated career took him from the studios of Melbourne and Sydney to West Berlin and London’s Abbey Road, working with…
An extract from I'd rather not by Robert Skinner
Take a break from whatever you should be doing with this edited extract from Adelaide-born, Melbourne-based writer Robert skinner’s memoir, I’d Rather Not, in which he attempts to evade gainful employment in pursuit of literary enlightenment, reflects on escapades ranging from reaching for the stars while sleeping in a ditch to running a literary magazine out of a dog park, and is generally thwarted in his search for a meaningful life by endless jobs, beagles, house parties, ill-advised love…
Coming-of-age memoirs exploring deconstructions of faith, nonconformity, and reinvention
These coming-of-age memoirs explore intergenerational trauma, cycles of poverty, deconstructions of faith, and overwhelmingly, what it's like to grow up in an isolated environment that you feel 'other' to yet struggle to break free from. Engaging at the intersection of cultural studies and personal narrative, you won't forget these stories of survival and reinvention.
The Forgotten Girls by Monica Potts
Growing up gifted and working-class in the foothills of the Ozarks, Monica and Darci became fast friends. The girls bonded…
An interview with Margaret Simons, author of Tanya Plibersek: On Her Own Terms
In anticipation of our upcoming event discussing the recent biography of Tanya Plibersek, our community engagement and programming manager Chris Gordon asks the biographer's author, Margaret Simons, a few questions.
CG: First, thank you for your wonderful accessible writing. I know writing in plain language is a craft. (I found myself constantly compelled by your words.) When you are writing a biography are you considering who will read it? Is there anyone in particular you hope will read it? (e.g.…
Great music books from 2022
Year to year, categories wax and wane in their popularity with readers as well as the number of titles published; 2022 was a fantastic year for essay and memoir on music. Below you'll find a selection of our favourites.
This Woman’s Work: Essays on Music edited by Sinéad Gleeson & Kim Gordon
Published to challenge the historic narrative of music and music writing being written by men, for men, This Woman’s Work seeks to confront the male dominance and sexism…
New and noteworthy biography + memoir
This month we have a complete – and compelling – gamut of both local and international memoir. Blurring the lines between cultural studies, memoir, and graphic novel or visual diary - July releases offer unforgettable insight into another’s experiences of the world.
Big Beautiful Female Theory by Eloise Grills
big beautiful female theory is an anarchic and vital memoir unlike anything you’ve read before. Part feminist manifesto, part comic book, it is a carnivalesque exploration of the ways identity is…
The National Biography Award shortlist 2022
The State Library of New South Wales (SLNSW) has announced this year’s shortlist for the National Biography Award! This Award is presented annually to a published work of biographical or autobiographical writing aiming to promote public interest in these genres.
Each shortlisted author will receive $2000 while the winner will receive $25, 000.
The shortlisted works are:
Car Crash by Lech Blaine
Leaping Into Waterfalls by Bernadette Brennan
One Day I’ll Remember This: Diaries 1987-1995 by Helen Garner
Bestselling books from Clunes Booktown
After predictions of dire storms and a torrential downpour on the Friday night, we weren’t sure what to expect for our first post-Covid Booktown. But the sun shone brightly all weekend as thousands of book lovers descended upon the picturesque town of Clunes to hear authors speak and fossick through the many pop-up bookshops and local stores. Visiting authors came to the Readings marquee to sign their books after their talks, with the following books becoming our top sellers:
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