Associate Professor Jessica Wilkinson

Jessica is a writer, critic, scholar and editor whose research interests include: poetry and poetics; contemporary poetry; poetic biography; 'nonfiction poetry'; experimental/radical writing; literary theory. She is the founding and Managing Editor of 'Rabbit: a journal for nonfiction poetry' (2011-present) and of the Rabbit Poets Series. In her own poetry and with Rabbit, Jessica is interested in pushing boundaries of form, and in exploring what poetry can do in collision with nonfiction writing. She is also passionate about giving opportunities to new Australian writers, and in the transnational potential of literary publishing. Jessica holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Melbourne.

Jessica's poems have appeared in books, newspapers, and international anthologies and journals. She is the author of three books of poetry: 'marionette: a biography of miss marion davies' (Vagabond, 2012), 'Suite for Percy Grainger' (Vagabond, 2014) and 'Music Made Visible: A Biography of George Balanchine' (Vagabond, 2019). In 2017, she received an RMIT Research Award recognising the impact she has made to the field of 'nonfiction poetry'.

Scholarships, grants and awards

2020     Varuna Residency Fellowship

2019      Australia Council for the Arts for 'Poetic Portraits of Australian Elders' collaboration ($28,308)

2018      Shortlisted, Aesthetic Creative Writing Award (Poetry)

2018      Australia Council for the Arts for 'Rabbit' ($15,610)

2018      Creative Victoria Arts Projects for 'Rabbit' ($17,425)

2017      RMIT Research Impact Award (Design) ($3000)

2016      DFAT Australia-Korea Foundation for 'Melbourne-Seoul Poetry Exchange' ($20,000)

2015      Longlisted, Montreal International Poetry Prize

2015      Australia Council for the Arts project grant for Music Made Visible (AU$15,924)

2014      Art Victoria Program Grant for 'Rabbit' ($20,000)

2014      Longlisted, VC Canberra Poetry Award

2014      Winner, International Peter Porter Poetry Prize for poem 'Arrival Platform Humlet'

2014      Shortlisted for the Kenneth Slessor Prize, NSW Premier's Literary Awards, for Marionette

2013      City of Melbourne Arts Grant Program for 'Rabbit' (AU$17,300)

2012      CAL Cultural Fund for special issue of 'Rabbit' (AU$3050)

2009      Varuna Residency Fellowship

2008      Felix Meyer Scholarship for Creative Writing (University of Melbourne)

2008      'Oneida' shortlisted for the PressPress Chapbook Award

2006      H.B. Higgins Scholarship for the Study of Poetry (University of Melbourne)

2019 - present: Deputy HDR Director, School of Media and Communication

2018 - present: PRS Asia/Australia Chair for Media and Communication

2011 - present: Rabbit: a journal for nonfiction poetry (founding editor/ Managing Editor)

2013 - present: Rabbit Poets Series (founding/Managing editor)

Advisory Board Member:

• Forty-five: A Journal of Outside Research (US)
• International Poetry Studies Institute (Canberra)
• Journal of Poetics Research (Sydney/International)

2012 – Graduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning, School of Education, RMIT University

2011 – PhD, Creative Writing, University of Melbourne, Australia

2005 – BA (Hons), Media and Communications, University of Melbourne (Majors: English and Creative Writing)