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Jean Kent Jean Kent i(A6935 works by) (a.k.a. Alice Jean Cranley Kent)
Also writes as: Jean Sharp
Born: Established: 1951 Chinchilla, Chinchilla area, Chinchilla - Miles - Wallumbilla area, Darling Downs, Queensland, ;
Gender: Female
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Works By

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1 At Photo Station, Boulevard St-Michel i "Sticking its beak through a camera lens,", Jean Kent , single work poetry
1 A Beachcomber Beside the Seine i "Because you are innocent of the language,", Jean Kent , single work poetry
1 On the Plane to Paris i "On the plane to Paris, is it too late to learn French?", Jean Kent , single work poetry
1 Last Days on Our Usual Littoral i "Sunset into the shipwrecked house tracks spiders' glittering seams.", Jean Kent , single work poetry
1 y separately published work icon Paris Light Jean Kent , Martin Kent , World Square : Pitt Street Poetry , 2024 27912256 2024 selected work poetry

'Paris Light is an intensely personal Plan de Paris. What began as a tongue-in-cheek attempt by Jean Kent to write a poem for each letter of the alphabet, based on streets or places in Paris which had meaning for her, evolved into an emotional map of her time there with her husband, Martin, trying to live as locals. Many of the poems are set within easy walking distance of the Cité Internationale des Arts, where the couple lived during two six-month Australia Council residencies, firstly in 1994 and later in 2011. With the inclusion of Martin’s art works, which complement the poems but have their own idiosyncratic focus, this book is both a celebration of the romance between words and images and the magic of the City of Light.' (Publication summary)

1 A Garden of the World Jean Kent , 2023 single work poetry
— Appears in: The Crossing : Newcastle Poetry Prize Anthology 2023 2023;
1 Exhibition Grounds, Brisbane i "Somewhere in the clutter of memories consigned", Jean Kent , 2023 single work poetry
— Appears in: Antipodes , vol. 36 no. 1 2023; (p. 132)
1 2 y separately published work icon The Shadow Box Jean Kent , World Square : Pitt Street Poetry , 2023 26089045 2023 selected work poetry

'A shadow box on a sitting room wall; a hat box hiding a wedding dress and a kit bag; a hallstand decorated with hand-carved kurrajong leaves… In such leftovers from other lives, these poems began.

'The Shadow Box is a book-length sequence of poems inspired by the experiences of my maternal grandparents, George and Jean Campbell, during and shortly after World War I. From their marriage a month before George left for war, through four years of separation—broken briefly by a six month visit by Jean to him in Egypt—the poems attempt to recreate their daily lives on different sides of the world. They draw on George’s diary and Jean’s letters to him, as well as my own imagination, to celebrate a family history which is both a cameo of another time, and strangely resonant with challenges in our world today.' (Publication summary)

1 A Wide-reaching Recognition of the Importance of Place : Jean Kent Launches ‘Sunday Morning, Here’ by Jill McKeowen Jean Kent , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: Rochford Street Review , vol. 36 no. 1 2023;

— Review of Sunday Morning, Here Jill McKeowen , 2023 selected work poetry

'It is a sad, but very special honour to be launching this beautiful Flying Islands book: Jill McKeowen’s posthumously published first collection of poetry, Sunday Morning, Here.'  (Introduction)

1 Time for a Cable (January 5th, 1917) i "Sydney in January: the angophoras laden with snow flowers, the NSW Christmas bush still a celebration of starry red –", Jean Kent , 2022 single work poetry
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 25 June 2022; (p. 17)
1 A Kaleidoscope of Topics : Jean Kent Launches ‘The Earth Will Outshine Us’ by Kathryn Fry Jean Kent , 2022 single work review
— Appears in: Rochford Street Review , vol. 34 no. 1 2022;

— Review of The Earth Will Outshine Us Kathryn Fry , 2021 selected work poetry
1 y separately published work icon This Gift, This Poem Jean Kent (editor), David Musgrave (editor), Carolyn Rickett (editor), Jen Webb (editor), Glebe : Puncher and Wattmann , 2022 24477977 2022 anthology poetry 'The motivation behind this anthology is to create a collection of poems and reflections which serve as a gift for people in hospital, and for their loved ones and staff who may be supporting them during the anxieties of illness. The anthology is also intended for aged care residents whose wellbeing may also benefit from creative connection. Australian poets, both experienced and emerging, were invited to contribute one of their own poems as well as a short personal reflection for the reader about why they have chosen that particular poem and what they hope the reader experiences reading the poem. At the centre of this project is the idea of words as a gift from writer to reader where a poem serves as a space of solace, solidarity or possibly an encounter with joy or uplifting epiphany.'

 (Publication summary)

1 Christmas Day, 1918 (Off the Coast of W.A.) i "Nothing doing. Yet again, there’s nothing doing. Although the soldiers can taste salt air off the coast of home, their feet can only sleepwalk", Jean Kent , 2022 single work poetry
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 5 February 2022; (p. 18)
1 Strong and Mesmerizing : Jean Kent Launches ‘Foxline’ by Chris Mansell Jean Kent , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: Rochford Street Review , March no. 31 2021;

— Review of Foxline Chris Mansell , 2021 selected work poetry

'Foxline by Chris Mansell, Flying Island Books 2020, was launched by Jean Kent at The Shop Gallery, Glebe on 21st February 2021.'

1 The Slipperiness of Meaning : Jean Kent Launches ‘Instant History’ by Richard Tipping Jean Kent , 2018 single work review
— Appears in: Rochford Street Review , 25 October – December 2018;

— Review of Instant History : Mostly New Poems Richard Tipping , 2017 selected work poetry

'Forty years ago — when I was such a new poet I would never have dared call myself one— I bought a book which is still one of my most treasured possessions. It was the catalogue for a touring exhibition of poems by Australian poets. There were only 75 poets included: one of them was Richard Tipping.' (Introduction)

1 y separately published work icon On First Looking Jean Kent (editor), David Musgrave (editor), Carolyn Rickett (editor), Waratah : Puncher and Wattmann , 2018 15419737 2018 anthology poetry

'On First Looking publishes poems by student writers at Avondale College of Higher Education alongside work by some of Australia's best contemporary poets. It is the fifth volume in a project which has run over the last decade, and like the books it follows, this anthology introduces a diverse range of poetic voices and places them within the context of a wider poetic community. With a nod in homage to John Keats' poem 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer', this collection celebrates a long tradition of connections between writers. It is a unique showcase for work by new and mature poets, all of them united by poetry's gift of bringing us the world as if it has been looked at for the very first time.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1 y separately published work icon All These Presences Jean Kent (editor), David Musgrave (editor), Carolyn Rickett (editor), Glebe : Puncher and Wattmann , 2016 11627910 2016 anthology poetry

'All These Presences publishes poems by creative writing students at Avondale College alongside work by a selection of established Australian poets. Like the three earlier volumes it follows, Wording the World (2010), Here Not There (2012) and A Way of Happening (2014), it is a unique collaboration between writers at very different stages of learning and practising their craft.

'Poetry writing is an intensely personal expression of experience. The poems themselves, however, have a magical ability to move from silence into a world of unexpected conversations and deep connections, not only with readers, but also with other poets. All These Presences is an exciting illustration of that connectedness. It is a vibrant gathering of presences: a fresh and wide-ranging collection of new and mature voices from Australia's contemporary poetic community.' (Publication Summary)

1 y separately published work icon Paris in my Pocket Jean Kent , Sydney : Pitt Street Poetry , 2016 10680505 2016 selected work poetry
1 2 y separately published work icon The Hour of Silvered Mullet Jean Kent , Sydney : Pitt Street Poetry , 2015 8641754 2015 selected work poetry

'Jean Kent’s new collection comprises poems written over the last 20 years, from a group of rural meditations through to recent reflections of life lived as part of a lakeside community in northern NSW.

'Launched initially at the Newcastle Writers Festival in March 2015 and then at a celebratory event at the Cardiff Library, where poet and poetry academic Christopher Pollnitz provided a characteristic wryly humorous and insightful celebration of a book destined to be sought after by Jean Kent’s many readers.' (Publication summary)

1 A Sensibility Tuned to the Wonders of the World: Jean Kent Launches ‘Scavenger’s Season’ by Kit Kelen Jean Kent , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: Rochford Street Review , October 2014 – March no. 13 2015;

— Review of Scavenger's Season Christopher Kelen , 2014 selected work poetry
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