Collection: Biography

Always Home, Always Homesick is Hannah Kent's exquisite love letter to a land that has forged a nation of storytellers, her ode to the transcendent power of creativity, and her invitation to us all to join her in the realms of mystery, spirit and wonder.

Born into a daring, musical family in 1886, Annette Kellerman was a force of nature and made for the stage - her first love - and encouraged to defy social norms from a young age. But after she was diagnosed with rickets as a child she took up swimming for therapy, and soon she became an Australi...

Should architecture be used for punishment? How might the spaces we inhabit nurture or damage us? How can we begin to start over after the worst has happened? Criminologist Yvonne Jewkes grapples with these questions every day as the world's leading expert on rehabilitative prison design; she als...

Born into a life of crime, Peter's earliest memories are shaped by the chaos of his father's criminal exploits. Torn from home to home and running from heist to heist, his childhood was marked by violence, betrayal, and upheaval. In this compelling memoir, Peter exposes the truth of his turbulent...

Nick Kaldas is a cop's cop. From investigating war criminals to taking down global drug operations, Kaldas has seen the worst humanity can offer. But he's also seen which human qualities can lead to greatness. This is the compelling true story of an immigrant boy from Egypt who rose from beat cop...

Sonia Orchard was in her forties when she told a therapist about the boyfriend she had when she was fifteen. Sure, he had been a decade older than her, but it was consensual ... wasn't it? To her surprise, Sonia broke down in tears, then began to shake uncontrollably - an unmistakable expression ...

A unique behind-the-scenes story of love, sisterhood and the trail-blazing Australian poet Dorothy Porter.Dorothy Porter was one of Australia's most charismatic and courageous literary figures. Achieving broader fame through her bestselling queer crime verse novel The Monkey's Mask and its film a...

The moving story of an Indigenous woman who beat disadvantage and violence to become one of Australia's most influential political voices. Jacinta Nampijinpa Price was nine months pregnant and due to give birth the night she attended her high school formal. With her baby tucked in her arms, she c...

Miles Franklin dazzled Australia with her rebellious novel My Brilliant Career, inspiring generations of young women chafing under conventional expectations. Only 21, Miles Franklin was lauded as the Bronte of the bush, and feted by the rich and influential. But fame can be deceptive. In reality,...

Amanda Goff was a successful journalist in London and Sydney before ditching her nine-to-five job at the age of 38 to become Samantha X, Australia's most famous escort. A bipolar diagnosis changed everything: she retired from sex work, walked away from Samantha X, and went in search of Amanda.