The Personal Essay in Contemporary Australian Life Writing
Pleasures, Perils, Ethics
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Edinburgh University Press
Publishing:30th Nov '26
£90.00
This title is due to be published on 30th November, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
Examining the rise and significance of the personal essay in Australian life writing, Kyle Cardell frames the personal essay as a hybrid, politically charged genre that negotiates with aesthetics and ethics as a feature of self-representation in this form. She traces the essay’s historical trajectory and contemporary vitality in Australia through case studies ranging from Charmian Clift’s mid-century columns, to First Nations writers like Chelsea Watego and Mykaela Saunders, digital feminist essaying by Clementine Ford, eco-essays by Sophie Cunningham and #MeToo narratives, exploring themes of genre, agency and activism. Ultimately, this book argues that the personal essay functions as a dynamic site for creative, personal acts of cultural critique and narrative justice in the context of Australian life writing.
Are essays the next big thing for the study of Australian literature and life writing? Kylie Cardell says yes, absolutely, and after reading this book, I agree. Cardell makes an eloquent and persuasive case for taking the personal essay as a contemporary form seriously, as an important act of witness. -- Julie Rak, University of Alberta
ISBN: 9781399541411
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
212 pages