Daniella Mestyanek Young grew up in the Children of God cult, also known as The Family. She escaped aged 15, then joined the US army after college – and recognised similar systems of toxic control.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Memoir
Displaying 41 - 60 of 107 articles
Over 100 life stories of Holocaust survivors have been published through a Holocaust survivors’ memoir program. Listening to survivors narrate their stories is a powerful learning experience.
With the disastrous effects of climate change already upon us, past events may have lessons for the future.
Prince Harry’s long-awaited memoir tells a story of a troubled young man, traumatised by the death of his mother when he was just 12. And a man, closer to his 40s, who remains angry and anxious.
Bret Easton Ellis’s first novel in 13 years blurs fact and fiction, mining his youth for material. The result is Joan Didion meets Brian De Palma.
Children and the adults they become need to choose how they grieve. That may include sharing their experiences and getting angry.
Vince Copley lived a long, impressive life, helping to make a better world for Aboriginal people. Born on a mission in 1936, he died aged 85, just after finishing his memoir, on 10 January 2022.
Family estrangement feels shameful and isolating: but if you’ve experienced it, you’re far from alone. Sharing true stories can help reduce shame and create awareness.
Hancock isn’t the first politician to attempt redemption through memoir.
Fighting became a metaphor for Donna Lyon to recover from her childhood abuse. When her boxing career finished, she wondered if boxing – combined with creative writing – could help others like her.
Detention at Manus Island was not the same as detention at Auschwitz, writes Jordana Silverstein. But the historical insights from those who were in those places echo through time, across generations.
In her new memoir, Stella Prize winner Heather Rose reflects on overcoming childhood trauma and adult pain with spiritual work. But our reviewer wishes it allowed moments of ‘pause or ambiguity’.
Mala, a Polish Orthodox Jewish woman, escaped the Warsaw ghetto early in the second world war and survived by passing as a Catholic. A new book tells her story.
Jessie Cole’s memoir traces a love affair: a long-distance relationship with an unnamed, older lover. It’s set against layers of thinking about love, desire, bodies and ecological disaster.
As a young child, Amy Thunig, a Gomeroi/Gamilaroi/Kamilaroi woman, moved with her family to be near her father, who was incarcerated in Adelaide. It was a difficult time, but he has taught her much.
In her new memoir A Kind of Magic, Anna Spargo-Ryan writes of her fragile mental health with humour and courage.
In a series of discussions with journalist Sean O'Hagan, we meet an older, reflective theologically-probing musician, drawn to the Christian qualities of mercy, atonement and forgiveness.
A story of ‘falling upwards’, Childhood examines the author’s painful memories with detachment and unsparing honesty.
Annie Ernaux is the first French woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Her autofiction masterpiece, The Years, has been called a modern In Search of Lost Time.
From partying in California to activism in Australia, Grace Tame refuses to be defined by past traumatic events. The voice of her memoir, writes Camilla Nelson, is irrepressible.
Top contributors
-
Visiting Fellow, Centre for Cultural and Creative Research, University of Canberra, University of Canberra
-
Lecturer in Creative Writing, University of Sydney
-
Professor in Gender History and the History of Sexuality, The University of Queensland
-
Associate Professor, School of Humanities and Communication Arts, Western Sydney University
-
PhD Candidate, School of Culture and Communication, The University of Melbourne
-
Personal Chair, Literary Studies, Deakin University
-
Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing, The University of Melbourne
-
Historian, The University of Melbourne
-
Casual Academic, Flinders University
-
Senior Lecturer in Screen Studies, University of South Australia
-
Associate Professor in Media, University of Notre Dame Australia
-
Associate Professor, Griffith University
-
Adjunct Associate Professor, Public and Environmental Policy, University of Tasmania
-
Raimond Gaita is a Friend of The Conversation.
Honourary professorial fellow, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne
-
Associate professor, UNSW Sydney
