Disabled single mother Shakira Hussein reflects on her secret weapon against adversity. Adalya, her ‘excessively mature’ daughter, appointed herself her mother’s carer and fierce protector from age 9.
On International Women’s Day, two women writers discuss feminism, writing in the age of Trump and Covid – and being ‘flabbergasted’ by the absence of birth from Western art and philosophy.
Australian dramatist David Williamson’s new book is a mash up of memoir and autobiography, which casts himself as a former ‘plunderer’ of other’s lives.
Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Brittany Higgins’ forthcoming memoir will allow her to tell her story in her own words. She’ll join a group of strong women who’ve done just that.
Community members gather for a vigil in memory of the victims of the Atlanta shootings and to rally against anti-Asian racism in Ottawa.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Chinese-Canadian journalist Edith Eaton documented anti-Asian racism in Canada in the late 19th and early 20th century. Over 100 years later, not much has changed.
The view from the back verandah of the house where the city met the bush.
Author provided
When Matthew Condon began writing about corruption in Queensland he discovered that members of his own family had cameos in the narrative.
Cynthia Banham with Kevin Rudd in 2008. Banham’s memoir explores both the trauma she experienced during a plane crash in 2007 and her family’s history.
Dean Lewins/AAP
In her fragmentary family memoir, Cynthia Banham interweaves narratives of war and migration with her own traumatic plane crash - ultimately reclaiming her identity in the process.
Michelle Obama charted her own course, prioritizing what she values.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
A psychologist unexpectedly realized that Obama’s memoir ‘Becoming’ mirrors the life stages she’s identified in a group of women she’s been tracking since 1970.
Lower Snug looking across North West Bay to Mt Wellington, Tasmania.
Cassandra Pybus
Alone and adrift in Melbourne, Cassandra Pybus returned on a whim to her childhood home of Tasmania. There, she rediscovered nature’s power, encountering the island’s difficult history as well as her own.
Anne Moody penned her memoir at the urging of baseball great Jackie Robinson.
Jack Schrier
Leigh Ann Wheeler, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Does Anne Moody’s memoir represent how far we’ve come as a society? Or is it a stark reminder of how far we need to go?
Mirka Mora sitting surrounded by her colourful doll and soft sculpture creations and tapestries in 1978.
Courtesy of the Rennie Ellis Photographic Archive, State Library of Victoria.
Mirka Mora survived the second world war to carve out a unique place for herself in the Australian art world. Over six decades, her creativity was legendary.
Even though they don’t consistently have a roof over their heads, the homeless do their best to create a routine, form communities and make a home – just like the rest of society.
The Green Bell illustrates a life of complete and careless love, and utter grief: author Paula Keogh and poet Michael Dransfield in the early 1970s.
Affirm Press
The lovers at the centre of The Green Bell - its author, Paula Keogh, and that passing meteor of Australian poetry, Michael Dransfield - met in the psychiatric unit of Canberra Hospital.
In his new memoir ‘Born to Run,’ Bruce Springsteen details his lifelong battle with depression.
Norsk Telegrambyra AS/Reuters
Clementine Ford’s Fight Like a Girl is the latest in a new wave of feminist memoirs. These frank, fearless books reveal the hostility and deep discomfort women’s ever-strengthening public voice has provoked.
If it’s an election, you can bet that our cash-strapped publishing industry is preparing to unleash another volley of those hardy perennials known as the election campaign diaries. Penned by seasoned political…
The 1978 Mardi Gras started as a peaceful march and degenerated into a violent clash with police.
The Pride History Group
Is a formal apology to the 1978 Mardi Gras marchers warranted? Some understanding of the oppressive social conditions affecting the lives of sexual minorities in Australia in that era is required.
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki is back in the public eye thanks to a series of open letters he’s written since the start of 2016.
Reuters/Phil Moore
Former President Thabo Mbeki’s critique of South African historiography, and his concomitant attempt to correct this body of work, has set off a significant public discussion.