As a genre of Mormon literary expression, the personal essay has come into its own in the late twentieth century, although the roots of this genre can be traced to a long tradition of Mormon journal and diary writing, memoir writings, autobiography, and the confessional practice of testimony bearing. The personal essay is also related to the sermon, where Mormon religious expression has often achieved notable personal and literary qualities. Those same qualities have also been manifest in other genres of Mormon nonfiction, including devotional or inspirational writing (such as the eloquent musings of Neal A. Maxwell or the lighter and very personal writings of Chieko Okazaki); historical writing (for example, by B.H. Roberts); theology (such as James E. Talmage's Jesus the Christ); and in some nature and travel writing (such as that by H.L.A. Culmer or Terry Tempest Williams).

However, since the late twentieth century, the personal essay has developed into its own proper genre, and as such has become a principal mode of personal and creative expression for Latter-day Saints. Since the 1970s personal essays have regularly been featured in Mormon periodicals such as Sunstone, Dialogue, BYU Studies, The Ensign, Exponent II, etc. Since the 1980s Mormon personal essays have been published in edited or individual collections, and have begun to receive critical attention. Pioneering collections include Lowell Bennion's The Things that Matter Most, Edward Geary's Goodbye to Poplarhaven, and Eugene England's Dialogues With Myself. Significant personal essay writing by Mormon women has been published in volumes edited by Mary Bradford, Personal Voices and Mormon Women Speak and in Elouise Bell's humorous Only When I Laugh. By the end of the twentieth century Mormon personal essays began appearing in national publications, including essays by Kevin G. Barnhurst and Terry Tempest Williams. For an overview of the importance of this genre to Mormon literature and culture, read the essays by Mary Bradford, Clifton H. Jolley, and Donlu Thayer. [G. Burton]