Masterclass on Poetry with Jill Jones
On Thursday the 17th of October we were honoured to host a Masterclass in the Art of Poetry with the inspiring and brilliant Jill Jones on campus at the University of Adelaide.
Jill is a widely celebrated poet, and her most recent collection, Acrobat Music: New & Selected Poems, was shortlisted for the 2024 John Bray Poetry Prize and longlisted for the 2024 ALS Gold Medal. Other recent books include Wild Curious Air, winner of the 2021 Wesley Michel Wright Prize, A History Of What I’ll Become, shortlisted for the 2021 Kenneth Slessor Award and the 2022 John Bray Award, and Viva the Real, shortlisted for the 2019 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry and the 2020 John Bray Award. In 2015 she won the Victorian Premier’s Prize for Poetry for The Beautiful Anxiety. Jill's Masterclass was a thought-provoking reflection on making and artifice, and gave us a fascinating insight into Jill's process of drafting, editing and rewriting. Jill encouraged us to think about different approaches to writing a poem, and to explore varied ways of using the 'I' in poetry. This Masterclass was a wonderful opportunity for poets at all stages in their careers to think about drafting, editing and crafting a poem, and we thank Jill for her generosity and time in preparing and delivering this rich and inspiring Masterclass.