Biography and memoir
A Question of Age by Jacinta Parsons
Jacinta Parsons’ superpower is that she is an utterly compelling communicator. She resonates with people all over Australia because she is unafraid to speak the truth with honesty, warmth and humour. This empathetic approach to life is clear in her…
The Crane Wife: A Memoir in Essays by C.J. Hauser
When C.J. Hauser’s personal essay ‘The Crane Wife’ was first published in The Paris Review in 2019, it quickly became a viral sensation. This essay charts Hauser’s research trip to monitor whooping cranes on the gulf coast of Texas, only…
Raised by Wolves: A Memoir with Bite by Jess Ho
Having worked in hospitality since they were 15 years old, Jess Ho has extensive knowledge of Melbourne’s food scene and its evolution over the last two decades. In high school, they did the usual shifts at a fast-food grease pit…
Holy Woman: A Divine Adventure by Louise Omer
Louise Omer was not born into a religious family. Like many teenagers, she began to feel like an outsider during adolescence, rejected by friends and her twin brother, Ben, who had withdrawn from family life to seek out an identity…
Big Beautiful Female Theory by Eloise Grills
Eloise Grills’ debut book is a boisterous examination of beauty standards, sexuality, misogyny, consumerism and the cruel vicissitudes of modern life. Part memoir, part cultural commentary, the book shapeshifts between prose and vibrant, energetic illustrations. It’s not really a graphic…
What Goes Unsaid: A Memoir of Fathers Who Never Were by Emiliano Monge & Frank Wynne (trans.)
One night in 1958, Carlos Monge McKey dies in an accident at his workplace, leaving his wife and children behind. Four years later, with a different face, he returns.This incident plants a bitter seed of dissatisfaction and longing for three…
Swimming Home: A Memoir by Judy Cotton
The succinct title of artist Judy Cotton’s wonderful memoir, Swimming Home, is watertight; it immediately conjures up images of tidal currents and the fearsome mystery of deep water, alongside hopeful shallow rifts. Art critic Sebastian Smee has described Cotton…
My Accidental Career by Brenda Niall
Brenda Niall is considered one of Australia’s greatest biographers. During her career she has penned accounts of the Boyd and Durack families, written numerous columns, literary reviews and considerations. In 2004 she was awarded the Order of Australia for services…
Orwell’s Roses by Rebecca Solnit
As a lover of Rebecca Solnit’s writing, I was thrilled at the prospect of her unique perspective on one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. And Solnit does not disappoint. Orwell’s Roses is only part-biography: Solnit exquisitely…
Dancer: A Biography for Philippa Cullen by Evelyn Juers
The dancer, Philippa Cullen, died tragically in India at the age of 25. Evelyn Juers’ biography of this complex young woman runs to 550 pages. You may think, do Cullen’s life and achievements justify the length? I think probably yes…
Browse our reviews by category
