Jessica Wilkinson, Portfolio of Poems: Exercises in Mind and Memory 2008-2013

BACKGROUND This portfolio of works Poems: Exercises in Mind and Memory 2008-2013, gathers individually published poems that explore common themes of memory, the mind and mental illness through the poetic form. Similar work has been undertaken by such poets as Susan Schultz (Hawai'i) in her work Dementia Blog, and Lyn Hejinian in her seminal poetic autobiography My Life. CONTRIBUTION While many poems that address memory and mental illness are lyrical poems (i.e., straightforward, personal, with a prominent 'I' voice), these poems represent the poet's ongoing exploration of memory and the mind through experiments with poetic line, discontinuity and lyrical innovation. SIGNIFICANCE These poems have reached both national and international audiences, with publication in both Australian and USA literary journals. In Australia, her extensive poetry oeuvre is represented in two of the country's most longstanding and highly regarded literary journals, Overland and Meanjin. She is also represented in the prestigious publisher, Black Inc. Wilkinson's poems have also featured in Best Australian Poems, 2012 and 2013 editions, both of which have been reviewed in The Age and The Australian. In a review of the 2012 edition, the highly respected poet, novelist, playwright and critic, Ali Alizadeh, says: "Wilkinson's is a radically dialectical, expansive minimalism".