Rebecca Jessen's Blog, page 3

In Summary: 2016 Publications

A short summary of my publications in 2016, coming a little late into the piece I know! 2016 was a quiet year for me, writing wise, but I am pleased that I managed to break into three new publications that I respect and admire; Overland, Going Down Swinging, and Hecate. I also had work published in two of my favourite journals; The Lifted Brow, and Tincture Journal, both of which put a great emphasis on publishing voices that aren’t always heard in the mainstream. Below are links to either re...

(TWENTY-FIVE) the body has memory

‘The body has memory. The physical carriage hauls more than its weight. The body is the threshold across which each objectionable call passes into consciousness.’ Claudia Rankine, Citizen.

this is how days are spent. the briefest moments of hope. punctured by despair. can you despair at nothingness? can nothingness be a sign of despair? how often in the last four weeks did you feel hopeless for no reason. you would like to believe there is always a reason. but numbers aren’t a good measureme...

(TWENTY-FOUR) the chaos and the calm

you’re the kind of person who makes people lonely. you dream of five cats entering the house and watching you. you know it’s over when the cats have come. your mother’s psychic said this would happen. but you’ve only ever believed in magic. you wonder if you should tell someone about this feeling that won’t quit. 3am is for sobbing in your sleep and car alarms. every morning before consciousness you think. it’s all okay. and then you wake.

you’re the kind of person who makes people lonely. th...

New Writing in The Lifted Brow #30

I’m really excited to have a new pice of non-fiction, ‘The Art Of Breaking’ in the latest (#30) issue of The Lifted Brow.Not only is it the Brow’s 30th issue,a great thing in itself, it’s also all-round, a pretty special issue. Have you seen the awesome wrap-around artwork? There is so much goodness to find in this issue,I set myself the task of reading a different piece every night before bed. Sometimes the strange and wonderful works entered my dreams.

I especially enjoyed the Advice Comics...

TWENTY-THREE (Street Stories)

This is a tiny extract from my current work in progress.

Sometimes the only way to remember the early years is to trace the memories back to the streets they emerged from. There were so many houses early on, so many schools, so many new beginnings. Can a beginning be thought of as new if it starts and ends the same as all the other beginnings? Is this how other families work too, this constant shifting, but never starting over—just starting again, and again—sometimes only a few streets awa...

TWENTY-TWO (Yesterday)

There was a time there all those years ago, in that old house, that old suburb, there was a time there when I saw you in everything. Wherever I went, wherever I looked, there you were. They say, after a person dies, it’s not uncommon to still see them, in places you might have once seen them, often in the most ordinary of places. Then it’s not uncommon to see you riding down the street on your bicycle. Then it’s not uncommon to see you in the supermarket, stepping off a bus, turning back and...

New Poem in Tincture Journal Issue 13

The lovely folk at Tincture Journal have once again published a piece of my writing. My poem ‘field officer no. 302’ appears inIssue 13 alongside many other wonderful pieces of writing. If you haven’t read Tincture Journal yet then this is a great issue to start with. There is a diverse range of quality content from – you guessed it – a diverse range of quality contributors!

If you’re looking for a taste-test then start withthis‘Two poems and an interview’ with Alison Whittaker, 2015 winner o...

TWENTY-ONE (Goshawk)

When I was eight I tattooed a pair of lips onto the side of my face. I was looking for love.

It was 1996, the year of the Atlanta Olympics. I remember this because the McDonalds up the road were giving away free Olympics hats with your meal. But not just any meal, a grownups meal. I had my eye on the maroon hat, I don’t know why, perhaps even then I knew I was a Queenslander at heart.

My older brother and I spent a whole week trying not to fight – at least not in front of Mum – so she’d give...

In Summary: 2015 Publications

Looking back, 2015 was a good year for writing, publications wise. I got writing published in many journals I had been aiming to publish in, and a few others which were wonderful, unexpected surprises.

I’m hoping for more publications this year, while knowing that I should be channeling most of that energy into the writing of my next book. The writing life is often about balance, weighing up the importance of your short and long term goals, it can be hard to strike the right balance, as I fou...

Happy Mondays

The lovely people at Arts Queensland recently asked me to do a guest-post for their blog series Happy Mondays. I talk about what I’m working on at the moment, one of my favourite books set in Australia and a cultural experience not to be missed. The post is now live and you can check it outhere. Happy reading!