Discretion, silences and underachievement marked Joan Lindsay’s life and work – despite writing an Australian classic. A new biography investigates her many mysteries.
Articles on Biography
Displaying 21 - 40 of 93 articles
The true depth of Michael Mosoeu Moerane’s work as a composer and educator is revealed in a stunning new biography called The Times Do Not Permit.
In celebrating the life of Tadeusz Kościuszko, Sharwood invites Australians to reflect on their own values and history.
A new book sorts the myths from the facts in a comprehensive account of how the former president became the United States’ most powerful businessmen.
Arendt maintained that our ‘common sense’ depends on our good will and curiosity, our adventurous enjoyment of testing opinions and perspectives against those of others.
The authors of Joe Modise’s biography set out to debunk smears against him.
Hermann Pollnow’s parents saved him from the Nazi Germany they wouldn’t survive. His story, told by his Australian granddaughter, reminds us the Holocaust is a global history, not just a European one.
Three years apart in age, Shirley Hazzard and Elizabeth Harrower were both formed as writers by the fact of being Australian-born women.
A new biography tells the story of Hillsong and its leader Brian Houston. How did Hillsong come to dominate Australian Pentecostalism – and Australian Christianity? What can we learn from its decline?
The book tells the inside story of how they changed the sound of urban pop.
Establishing the facts – and disentangling fact from legend – is not always straightforward when it comes to biography. Frank Moorhouse’s biographer unpacks his process.
Some see Elon Musk as an idiot savant; others think of him simply as an idiot. How did an unelected citizen come to wield such power?
Gabrielle Carey’s last book, about her beloved James Joyce, also includes her own life as a reader, and makes us see things that hurt and delight her.
A psychologist analyses the rugby star’s life to extract lessons.
Donald Horne’s genius was his ability to capture on the page a personal intellectual journey that reflected one the nation was also taking.
Publishers and studios routinely pay large sums to acquire ‘life story rights.’ Two law scholars explain why the phrase is misleading.
The machinations of a young and ambitious media mogul are laid bare in a detailed new biography.
There is never going to be a final assessment of Mandela’s legacy. How it is regarded will continue to change, depending on the destination South Africa travels to.
Anna Funder’s new book, Wifedom, is a meditation on the insidious nature of patriarchy. Funder draws parallels between our #metoo era and the time of George Orwell and his wife Eileen.
‘Literary couples are a plague,’ wrote Elsa Morante, married to Alberto Moravia. They’re one of the couples in this lively exploration of what happens when two writers share loves and lives.
Top contributors
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Professor of Communication, Deakin University
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Dennis Altman is a Friend of The Conversation.
Vice Chancellor's Fellow and Professorial Fellow, Institute for Human Security and Social Change, La Trobe University
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Professor Emeritus, Australian Literature, The University of Queensland
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Senior Lecturer, School of the Arts & Media, UNSW
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Associate of the Gordon Institute for Business Science, University of Pretoria
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Associate Professor in Modern European History and Jewish History, UNSW
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Senior Fellow, McCormack Graduate School, UMass Boston
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Senior Research Fellow at the National Centre of Biography, Australian National University
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Kidman Chair in Australian Studies and Director, JM Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice, Adelaide University
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Professor of Modern Italian History, University of Bristol
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Professor Emeritus, School of Government and International Relations; Adjunct Professor, Centre for Governance and Public Policy, Griffith University
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Distinguished Professor Emerita of Creative Practice, Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Canberra
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Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing, The University of Melbourne
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Senior Lecturer in English Literature, University of Notre Dame Australia
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Professor of History, Rochester Institute of Technology