Jessica Kirkness
Jessica is the author of The House With All The Lights On, a memoir about her relationship with her deaf grandparents. Jessica has a PhD in Life Writing and Deaf…
BottomJessica is the author of The House With All The Lights On, a memoir about her relationship with her deaf grandparents. Jessica has a PhD in Life Writing and Deaf…
BottomJessica is a writer and sessional academic from Sydney, living on Cammeraygal land. She is a ‘GODA’- a grandchild of deaf adults and the author of The House With All The Lights On, a memoir about her relationship with her deaf grandparents.
Jessica has a PhD in Life Writing and Deaf and Disability studies, and the manuscript for her book was shortlisted for the Richell Prize for Emerging Writers in 2021. In the same year she received a commendation for The Peter Blazey Fellowship, awarded to scholars in the field of life writing, and in 2020 she was the runner up for the Writing NSW Varuna Fellowship.
Her writing has been published in Meanjin, The Conversation, Women’s Agenda, and The Guardian (UK and Australia), as well as in anthologies and academic journals. She has appeared on ABC Conversations with Richard Fidler as well as ABC radio national, ABC Sydney, Canberra, and Hobart.
Jessica currently teaches nonfiction writing at Macquarie University.
Newcastle Writers Festival would like to acknowledge the Awabakal and Worimi peoples, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which the festival takes place, and recognise their continuing connection to land, water and community. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging and extend this respect to all First Nations people attending our festival.
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