Cirrus@Austlit

'What we now want from a biography, or autobiography, is the very thing that Virginia Woolf said that we have no right to want: art. Not only art, obviously, but art nevertheless. And we love the illumination of dark corners of the soul, having quite a few of our own, if we're honest with ourselves.' Robert Dessaix

'The Seymour Biography Lecture was presented annually at the Australian National University and the National Library of Australia from 2005 to 2023, by eminent biographers, autobiographers and memoirists. From political profiles to 'tragic poems', this collection of the lectures investigates the philosophical scaffolding that holds up the form of biography and the deft skill required to tell the truth of a life beautifully.

'Over seventeen years, internationally significant authors have spoken on topics such as 'Biography and the Struggle for the Soul of Australia' (Jill Roe, 2007), 'Truth. Truthfulness. Self. Voice.' (Raimond Gaita, 2017) and 'Honouring the Biographer's Contract' (Chris Wallace, 2023). Interrogate the art of life-writing with thoughtfulness, humour and candour along with: Dr Brenda Niall AO Professor Lawrence Goldman Emeritus Professor Jill Roe AO Richard Holmes Dr David Day Professor Frances Spalding CBE Robert Dessaix Professor Jeffrey Meyers Drusilla Modjeska Professor Ray Monk Robert Drewe David Marr Raimond Gaita Richard Fidler Emeritus Professor Judith Brett Jacqueline Kent Professor Chris Wallace'  (Publication summary)

'Political Lives is an intimate history of imagemaking and image-breaking in national politics. In 2011, Chris Wallace was writing a biography of Julia Gillard. After seeing the unparalleled onslaught from the Abbott opposition, she cancelled her contract and repaid her advance with the awareness of how hard the biography could hit. Political Lives is a result of that fraught experience. In it Wallace reflects on the roles and motives of biographers and their biographies in the 20th century.

'To discover who wrote biographies, and why, Wallace interviewed every living 20th century prime minister and their biographer, from Menzies to Hawke, Whitlam to Keating. The result is an intimate history of Australian national politics.'  (Publication summary)

'Pure box office, pure genius, was how former England cricket captain Nasser Hussain summed up the late, great Australian bowler Shane Warne, who died unexpectedly at just 52.'