Join three brilliant authors as they unpick the threads of our complex emotional bonds. From therapy speak and method acting to the mysteries that live within our bodies, these writers’ spellbinding contributions to the latest edition of Griffith Review reveal the pleasures, pitfalls and peculiarities of our messy human relations.

Ceridwen Dovey writes fiction (Only the Animals; Mothertongues; Blood Kin; In the Garden of the Fugitives; Life After Truth) and creative non-fiction (On J.M. Coetzee: Writers on Writers; Inner Worlds Outer Spaces) and has won an Australian Museum Eureka Award & two UNSW Press Bragg Prizes for long-form science writing. Ceridwen is co-creator of The Archival Futures of Outer Space Film Quartet about ethics and emotions in outer space. Her latest book of stories, Only the Astronauts, continues her experiments with literary voice and form. 

Dr Ahona Guha is a clinical and forensic psychologist. Her first book, Reclaim: understanding complex trauma and those who abuse was published by Scribe Publications in 2023. She works with victims of abuse and trauma, and clients with a range of other difficulties — such as anxiety, depression, perfectionism, burn-out, and relationship problems. She also works with perpetrators of harmful behaviours to assess risk, and provides treatment to reduce the risk they pose to others. She writes widely for the media on matters related to mental health, health, social justice, and equity. Her work has appeared in The Age, The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Breathe Magazine, SBS, and ABC. You can find out more about her work at www.ahonaguha.com.

Anna McGahan is the author of Metanoia and the collection of poetry, Skin. She is an actor, playwright and screenwriter, and has written essays for The Griffith Review, The Guardian and other publications. Anna lives in Meanjin (Brisbane), with her two daughters.

Natasha Mitchell is a multi-award-winning journalist, radio presenter, podcaster, and documentary maker. She is host of ABC Radio National’s flagship Big Ideas program, was founding host and producer of the blockbuster radio show and podcast All in the Mind for a decade, hosted the ABC’s daily social affairs program Life Matters, and was founding host and producer of Science Friction, awarded Best Science and Medicine podcast at the Australian Podcast Awards. Natasha served as vice president and board member of the World Federation of Science Journalists and was recipient of a prestigious Knight Science Fellowship at MIT/Harvard. Her journalism has received numerous accolades, including the overall Grand Prize and four Gold World Medals at the New York Radio Festivals. She has facilitated many public forums around Australia, including four science dialogues with the Dalai Lama and guests. She has an engineering degree with first class honours and a postgraduate qualification in science communication.