In her introduction, Julianne Schultz argues that ‘storytelling’ – and particularly the telling of stories about one’s life history – is ‘the glue that binds people to each other and to place’. Schultz’s argument for the importance of memoir is supported by the contributions that follow. These pieces unfold in Australia, China, Pakistan – and the United States since Barack Obama’s inauguration. Some contributors are well known (Kate Holden and Frank Moorhouse come to mind here); others are not. The contributions take the form of poems and autobiographical fragments, as well as a photographic essay on an elderly woman coping with the death of her husband and her subsequent health problems.

One highlight is Meera Atkinson’s reflective article on her ‘teen celebrity crush’ on pop band Sherbet in the 1970s. Atkinson’s piece is nostalgic in the best sense of that word, and bittersweet given the recent death of Sherbet’s guitarist, Harvey James. The article is also extremely witty. Rebecca Epstein writes with disarming honesty about her experience with bipolar disorder. Epstein describes the joy of being able to write ‘decently’, and hopes that her condition (and the potent medication she requires) will not rob her of this joy. The philosopher Raimond Gaita eloquently describes his mixed reaction to the filming of his autobiographical book Romulus, My Father.

Griffith Review 33 is not an easy read. There are frequent references to death, as well as to physical and emotional suffering. That said, the collection provides an excellent testament to the literary and political significance of life writing.