Jennifer Compton

Jennifer Compton was born in New Zealand but emigrated to Australia in the early 70s. She now lives in Wingello on the Southern Highlands of NSW. She is a poet and a playwright. Her first book of poetry From The Other Woman was published as part of the Five Islands New Poet Series in 1993. Aroha was published by Flarestack Press in the UK in 1998. Then there was Blue – Indigo Imprint at Ginninderra Press – in 2000 which was short listed for the NSW Premier's Prize in 2001. Followed by Parker & Quink in 2004. A book of poems, Parker & Quink, was published by Ginninderra Press in 2004, and another, Barefoot, was published by Picaro Press in 2010. Barefoot was short listed for the John Bray Poetry Award at the Adelaide Festival in 2012. This City won the Kathleen Grattan Award in New Zealand and was published by Otago University Press in July 2011.

She was awarded the NSW Writers Fellowship in 1996, the first time this has been awarded to a poet. However during her Fellowship year she also wrote a play called The Big Picture which premiered at the Griffin Theatre in Sydney in 1997 and was published by Currency Press.

Her poetry has been widely published by magazines in Australia, New Zealand, North America and the UK. In 2004, she was a guest at the International Festival of Poetry in Genoa.