Life writing when the world is burning "The year in Australia"

Abstract

It is no surprise that in Australia this year a great deal of life writing has continued to emerge in conjunction with pressing social and political issues. The ongoing national crises of refugee and asylum seeker policy, gendered abuse, and racial dis-crimination continue to surface in both political and literary arenas, while unprecedented bushfires have decimated the country, bringing climate change back onto the public agenda with new fury. The right of individuals to live with dignity, in safety, and free from fear and the ongoing challenges to these rights suffered in public and domestic domains is a connecting thread across the year’s life writing and a theme the genre is uniquely equipped to amplify.