About

Photo: Annette Willis


About Jill Jones

Jill Jones has been widely published in most of the leading literary periodicals in Australia as well as in a number of print magazines in New Zealand, Canada, the USA, Britain, France, the Czech Republic and India. She is also widely published online. Her work has been translated into Chinese, Dutch, Polish, French, Czech, Italian, Macedonian and Spanish. She has been a guest of most of the major literary festivals in Australia as well as at international poetry festivals and events in New Zealand, USA, UK, Canada and the Czech Republic.

She has collaborated with photographer Annette Willis, artist Bruno Leti, artist and poet Angela Gardner, and other visual and sound artists on a number of print multi-media projects, which have been presented at various festivals and events in Australia, NZ and the UK.

Her book, Broken/Open (Salt 2005), is included in the CAL (Copyright Agency Limited) Reading Australia list of titles.

For nearly seven years, she was Program Manager for the Literature Board of the Australia Council for the Arts. She is currently a member of the J.M. Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice, University of Adelaide, where she teaches in creative writing and literary studies. From September 2014 until January 2015 she was poet-in-residence at Stockholm University. An entry on her work is included in the current edition of The Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry in English.

Her work has featured in a number of recent anthologies including The Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature, The Turnrow Anthology of Contemporary Australian Poetry, Contemporary Australian Poetry (Puncher & Wattmann), The Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry, various volumes of the Black Inc series,The Best Australian Poems, and Over There – Poems from Singapore and Australia.

She is co-publisher, with Alison Flett, of Little Windows Press.


Publications

Full-length works
Viva the Real, UQP, St Lucia, 2018
Brink, Five Islands Press, Melbourne, 2017
Breaking the Days, Whitmore Press, Geelong, 2015
The Beautiful Anxiety, Puncher and Wattmann, Sydney, 2014
Ash is Here, So are Stars, Walleah Press, Hobart, 2012
Dark Bright Doors, Wakefield Press, Adelaide, 2010
Broken/Open, Salt Publishing, Cambridge, 2005
Screens Jets Heaven: New and Selected Poems, Salt Publishing, Cambridge, 2002
The Book of Possibilities, Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1997
Flagging Down Time, Five Islands Press, Wollongong, 1993
The Mask and the Jagged Star, Hazard Press, Christchurch, 1992

Chapbooks and limited editions
The Leaves Are My Sisters, Little Windows Press, Adelaide, 2016 (chapbook)
Senses Working Out, Vagabond Press, Sydney, 2012 (chapbook)
Questions for Light, with images by Bruno Leti, Carlton, 2008 (artist book designed and published by Bruno Leti, limited edition of 22)
The Romance of Death, with Annette Willis to accompany photography exhibition at Horsham Regional Gallery, 2008 (artist book)
Speak Which, Meritage Press, San Francisco and St Helens, 2007 (hand-written mini book)
Fold Unfold, Vagabond Press, Sydney, 2005 (chapbook)
Where the Sea Burns, Picaro Press, Warners Bay, 2004 (chapbook)
Struggle and Radiance: Ten Commentaries, Wild Honey Press, Bray, 2004 (chapbook)

As editor
Out of the Box: Contemporary Australian Gay and Lesbian Poets. (with Michael Farrell), Puncher and Wattmann, Sydney, 2009
A Parachute of Blue: First Choice of Australian Poets, ed. with Judith Beveridge & Louise Wakeling, Round Table Publications, Sydney, 1995
Falling for Grace: An anthology of Australian lesbian fiction, ed. (as Jill Taylor) with Roberta Snow, BlackWattle Press, 1993

Awards/Prizes
Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Poetry, 2015, for The Beautiful Anxiety
Whitmore Press Manuscript Prize, 2014, for Breaking the Days
Booranga Prize for Poetry, 2007, Charles Sturt University through Booranga Writers’ Centre
Kenneth Slessor Poetry Prize, 2003, (NSW Premier’s Literary Awards) for Screens Jets Heaven: New & Selected Poems
Mary Gilmore Award for a first book of poetry (Association for the Study of Australian Literature), 1993, for The Mask and the Jagged Star

Shortlistings/Commended
Shortlisted: Prime Minister's Literary Awards, 2019, for Viva the Real
Shortlisted: Kenneth Slessor Poetry Prize, 2017, for Breaking the Days
Shortlisted: Kenneth Slessor Poetry Prize, 2011, for Dark Bright Doors
Shortlisted: Kenneth Slessor Poetry Prize, 2006, for Broken/Open
Shortlisted: The Age Book of the Year Award, 2005, for Broken/Open
Shortlisted: Adelaide Festival Awards, 1998, for The Book of Possibilities
Shortlisted: National Book Council ‘Banjo’ Award for Poetry, 1997, for The Book of Possibilities
2nd prize: Robert Harris Poetry Prize, 1997, for “Whispers and Courses” (poem)
Highly Commended: Ann Elder Award for a first book of poetry (Fellowship of Australian Writers), 1993, for The Mask and the Jagged Star


Popular Posts

vale Jackson Mac Low 1922-2004

Belatedly, wanting to acknowledge the passing of Jackson Mac Low last week. There's an obituary at The New York Times and here's more info on Mac Low . The poem below is from his series of Light Poems. 1ST LIGHT POEM: FOR IRIS -- 10 JUNE 1962 The light of a student-lamp sapphire light shimmer the light of a smoking-lamp Light from the Magellanic Clouds the light of a Nernst lamp the light of a naphtha-lamp light from meteorites Evanescent light ether the light of an electric lamp extra light Citrine light kineographic light the light of a Kitson lamp kindly light Ice light irradiation ignition altar light The light of a spotlight a sunbeam sunrise solar light Mustard-oil light ...
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the smell of rain

I went out for a brief walk this afternoon. It was raining, but not so hard you needed an umbrella (I hate umbrellas anyway). And so very strong, the smell of rain. I remember once reading out a poem of mine and having someone come up after the reading and note that I'd used the phrase 'the smell of rain'. I couldn't tell if he liked it or was simply taking the mickey (the latter, I suspect, as he was a very 'cool' poet and I am, manifestly, not). I wondered about the smell. To me it's always been obvious. But today I decided to go and find, and here , via the ABC and CSIRO, is some hard data. The common rain smell comes from a gas called petrichor. Apparently, volatiles evaporate from plants and are absorbed by rocks, concrete etc. When the rain hits the rock, the volatiles are released into the atmosphere. That's why I can particularly smell it wandering along concrete paths and past sandstone walls. If it's good enough for CSIRO, it's good eno...
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connecting poetry and TED

As well as taking part in events at the Sydney Writers Festival next week, I'll also be doing a quite different gig in Sydney on Saturday 22 May, at the Carriageworks. I will be part of some readings organised by The Red Room , at an event called TEDx, which is taking place in Sydney at CarriageWorks on Saturday 22 May 2010 and featuring, as the website claims, a selection of Australia's leading visionaries and storytellers showcasing their Ideas Worth Spreading LIVE to a group of thinkers ... as well as ONLINE to the world at large"." It's part of something called TED which is described as "a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design" . As for the poetry part it will include Johanna Featherstone from the Red Room making a presentation about the role of poetry in Australian society. To complement Johanna's talk will be rea...
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