The transformative power of memoir

Australian author Alice Pung penned her seminal memoir Unpolished Gem two decades ago, which she started writing age 19.Even as a teenager Alice had lived a full life, and the story of how her parents, grandmother and aunt travelled by foot through three countries to seek resettlement as refugees in Melbourne, has become a modern Australian classic. It’s now taught in high schools across Australia and overseas, and it’s also taught plenty of readers to see and understand their own story in a new light. Such is the power of memoir, and in this episode we unpack the memoirs that have helped people better understand themselves and the world around them through another person’s story.