Personal Essay in Contemporary Australian Life Writing
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A01=Kylie Cardell
activism
Australian literature
Author_Kylie Cardell
autobiography
Category=DSBJ
Category=DSK
contemporary literature
digital media
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
essay
feminism
forthcoming
life-writing
literary form
Product details
- ISBN 9781399541411
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 30 Nov 2026
- Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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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.
Kylie Cardell is Associate Professor in English Literary Studies at Flinders University. She is a founding director of the International Auto/Biography Association (IABA) Asia-Pacific, co-director of the Life Narrative Lab, and is Essays Editor for the journal Life Writing. Kylie teaches and researches contemporary life writing. Her work has focused on the intersection of life narrative, form and identity and explores in particular the significance of genre in contemporary culture and the politics of autobiographical expression.
