Rebecca Jessen's Blog, page 4

TWENTY (Just The Way It Is)

I received my family inheritance young. I remember this, I’m ten, it’s a quiet Sunday afternoon, around four or five. Mum pushes a few coins into my hands and asks me to walk across the road to the servo and buy some milk. I agree, I don’t recall if there’s something in it for me, fifty cents, maybe. I’m wearing my new favourite outfit, a pink ribbed singlet and a pair of pink shorts – this is hard to admit, even now. I leave the house with the coins jingling in my pocket, I reach the end of...

Winner of the 2015 QLD Premier’s Young Publishers And Writers Award

As many of you will now know, I am totally thrilled to announce that I am one of the winners of the 2015 QLD Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Awards. The awards were announced at a ceremony at the State Library of QLD last Friday night. There was a wonderful, upbeat vibe at the awards this year, with the Queensland Premier and Minister for the Arts, Annastasia Palaszczuk in attendance, along with Leanne Enoch, Minister for Science and Innovation. The Premier kicked off the ceremony with...

New Poem in Cordite Poetry Review Issue 51.1 Umami

I’m really pleased to have my poem ‘What I Talk About When I Talk About Helicopters’ featured in the latest issue of Cordite Poetry Review: Issue 51.1 Umami, guest edited by Luke Davies. The issue is a collaboration between Cordite Poetry Review and The Lifted Brow – the latter will publish a response of sorts to this issue later this month.

I would recommend reading Luke’s editorial and then checking out the rest of this great issue. I’m still diving in and discovering new and wonderful word...

Queensland Literary Awards Shortlist

Last Friday the shortlists for the 2015 Queensland Literary Awards were announced and there are some exciting names among the mix. I’m thrilled to have been included on the shortlist for the Queensland Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Award. Upon seeing the shortlist for the first time I felt a mix of honour and terror. Queensland has some amazing emerging (and established) writers and it’s an absolute honour to be included among some of them. The other shortlistees for the award are: A...

Brisbane Poetry Map

Recently I had the pleasure of being involved in the Brisbane Poetry Map which is a project curated by the good folk at the Queensland Poetry Festival.

This is taken from the website: ‘Brisbane Poetry Map (BPM)was borne of a long-standing desire of Queensland Poetry Festival (QPF) topoetically map this city for all to hear it with new ears. Inspired in part by theMelbourne Poetry Map project, funding was then successfully sought fromCopyright Agency and Brisbane City Council, enabling the cre...

Sisters In Crime 15th Davitt Awards Shortlist

I’m a little late in posting this news, but the shortlist for the Sisters in Crime 15th Davitt Awards was announced a couple of weeks ago. I’m super proudto say that my verse-novelGap has been shortlisted forBest Debut.

There are some wonderful books on this shortlist and across the other categories, and I would urge you to check them out and support Australian women writers.

If you have signed up for the Australian Women Writers Challenge this year then perhaps you will find some inspiration...

NINETEEN (The Live Album)

This is a short excerpt from a piece of memoir that I’m currently working on.

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The four of us pile into the car and it could be any other day, we could be going anywhere, perhaps to the local shops to pick up groceries, or a little further, to the Westfield. We leave fifteen minutes earlier than we mean to. It doesn’t rain as predicted, but that will come, later.

My sister keeps her window down the whole trip and I shiver beside her. Mum is playing AC/DC’s The Live Album at full volume. As w...

2015 Queensland Poetry Festival

This year I’ve had the pleasure and privilege to be a part of the programming committee for the 2015 Queensland Poetry Festival. A big shoutout to new festival co-directors Annie Te Whiu and David Stavanger who have worked incredibly hard to come up with an exciting and diverse program for this year’s festival. There’s something for everyone in the program and the majority of the program remains free to attend.

This year’s theme is ‘Language Is A Virus’

‘What happens to words in space? Que...

Sisters In Crime 15th Davitt Awards

Just last week, the long list for the Sisters in Crime 15th Davitt Awards was announced. I’m very pleased to announce that my verse novelGaphas made the long list for Best Debut Book.Sisters in Crime Australia has been around since 1991 and is an organisation dedicated to celebrating and promoting women’s crime writing. The Davitt Awards are a national award for the best published crime books by Australian women. The award was first presentedin 2001 and isnamed in honour of Ellen Davitt (1812...

EIGHTEEN (Carry Me Home)

For n.

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When I run my fingers over her skin I see traces of the lives she has already lived, lives that I have never known perhaps never will know. Her skin tells the stories of past loves, lovers that have been too quick, too rough. Stories of children gained and lost. Homes built and burned down.

When I look at her, when I really look, I see the toll it has taken to be one woman holding the weight of loss in the palms of her hands.

Sometimes I look at her looking at me and my hands want t...