New book reflects on personal experience

We are living in the moment of the essay and a new book examines the strategies the form offers for reflection and sense-making.

UWA Publishing has released The Moment of the Essay: Australian Letters and the Personal Essay by Dr Daniel Juckes, a lecturer in creative writing at The University of Western Australia.

Image: Dr Daniel Juckes.

“The past two decades have witnessed an explosion in essays that interrogate personal experience,” Dr Juckes said.

“Contemporary Australian writers are using their lives to think through the ways we connect, remember, and live, while navigating the relationships we have with humans and nonhumans alike.”

Dr Juckes, editor of Westerly Magazine at UWA, considers the moment of connection between reader and text in his book.

He argues that this moment provides a crucial opportunity, within the incessant demands of our culture, for meeting one another.

The Moment of the Essay is part of the Vignettes series from UWAP which is edited by Professor Sarah Collins, from UWA’s Conservatorium of Music, and Professor Tony Hughes-d’Aeth, UWA’s Chair of Australian Literature.

The series aims to share the knowledge emerging in the contemporary university and consider the complexities of modern life.

Each book provides an image, or vignette, of a particular phenomenon and how this is being considered by intellectual practitioners.

The Moment of the Essay is now available to order and review copies are available.