Jordie Albiston
Encyclopedia
Jordie Albiston is a contemporary Australian poet
and academic.
Jordie Albiston grew up in Melbourne
, and studied flute at the Victorian College of the Arts
before completing a PhD in literature. Her first collection of poems, Nervous Arcs, won the Mary Gilmore Award, received runner-up in the Anne Elder Award, and was shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Prize. Her next two books were documentary collections, respectively concerning the first European women in the Port Jackson and Botany Bay
settlements, and Jean Lee
, the last woman hanged in Australia (1951).
Botany Bay Document was later transformed into a performance work entitled Dreaming Transportation: Voice Portraits of the First Women of White Settlement at Port Jackson by Andrée Greenwell. In 2003, the performance premiered at the Sydney Festival, and in 2004 was staged again at the Sydney Opera House
.
In 2006, Jordie Albiston's biographical verse The Hanging of Jean Lee was used as the text for an opera created by Andrée Greenwell and Melbourne playwright Abe Pogos, and staged at the Sydney Opera House
, The Studio. The libretto of this work was subsequently shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Prize for Best Music-Theatre Script.
Albiston's fourth book, The Fall, a collection of chained verse, was shortlisted for Premier's Prizes in Victoria, NSW, and Queensland. This was followed by Vertigo: A Cantata, which utilises musical structures and devices in place of traditional organisational techniques and punctuation. Albiston's sixth collection, the sonnet according to 'm won the 2010 NSW Premier's Prize, and received runner-up in the Chief Minister's Award (ACT).
Jordie Albiston's work has been well represented in anthologies, including the Oxford Anthology of Australian Verse (1998), the Indigo Book of Modern Australian Sonnets (2003), the PEN Macquarie Anthology of Australian Literature (2009), the Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry (2009), the Puncher & Wattman Anthology of Australian Poetry (2009), Motherlode: Australian Women's Poetry 1986-2008 (2009), and Australian Poetry Since 1788 (2011).
Other composers having set Albiston's poetry to music include Leonard Lehrman (New York), Raffaele Marcellino (Sydney), Peter Skoggard (Canada), and Barry McKimm (Melbourne). Albiston was selected by The Age (Melbourne Magazine) for its annual Top 100 in 2010, and is currently featured on the ABC Radio National podcast "A Pod of Poets".
Jordie Albiston cannot be found on facebook, twitter, or other social networking sites.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and academic.
Jordie Albiston grew up in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, and studied flute at the Victorian College of the Arts
Victorian College of the Arts
The Faculty of the VCA and Music is a faculty of the University of Melbourne, in Victoria . VCAM is located near the Melbourne central business district, on two campuses, one - the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - on the Parkville campus of the University of Melbourne, and the other - the...
before completing a PhD in literature. Her first collection of poems, Nervous Arcs, won the Mary Gilmore Award, received runner-up in the Anne Elder Award, and was shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Prize. Her next two books were documentary collections, respectively concerning the first European women in the Port Jackson and Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
settlements, and Jean Lee
Jean Lee (murderer)
Jean Lee was an Australian woman, convicted of murder, and notable as the last woman to be executed in Australia.- Life :...
, the last woman hanged in Australia (1951).
Botany Bay Document was later transformed into a performance work entitled Dreaming Transportation: Voice Portraits of the First Women of White Settlement at Port Jackson by Andrée Greenwell. In 2003, the performance premiered at the Sydney Festival, and in 2004 was staged again at the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
.
In 2006, Jordie Albiston's biographical verse The Hanging of Jean Lee was used as the text for an opera created by Andrée Greenwell and Melbourne playwright Abe Pogos, and staged at the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
, The Studio. The libretto of this work was subsequently shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Prize for Best Music-Theatre Script.
Albiston's fourth book, The Fall, a collection of chained verse, was shortlisted for Premier's Prizes in Victoria, NSW, and Queensland. This was followed by Vertigo: A Cantata, which utilises musical structures and devices in place of traditional organisational techniques and punctuation. Albiston's sixth collection, the sonnet according to 'm won the 2010 NSW Premier's Prize, and received runner-up in the Chief Minister's Award (ACT).
Jordie Albiston's work has been well represented in anthologies, including the Oxford Anthology of Australian Verse (1998), the Indigo Book of Modern Australian Sonnets (2003), the PEN Macquarie Anthology of Australian Literature (2009), the Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry (2009), the Puncher & Wattman Anthology of Australian Poetry (2009), Motherlode: Australian Women's Poetry 1986-2008 (2009), and Australian Poetry Since 1788 (2011).
Other composers having set Albiston's poetry to music include Leonard Lehrman (New York), Raffaele Marcellino (Sydney), Peter Skoggard (Canada), and Barry McKimm (Melbourne). Albiston was selected by The Age (Melbourne Magazine) for its annual Top 100 in 2010, and is currently featured on the ABC Radio National podcast "A Pod of Poets".
Jordie Albiston cannot be found on facebook, twitter, or other social networking sites.
Awards and nominations
- 1991 - winner of the Convocation Prize (La Trobe University, Melbourne)
- 1991 - joint winner of the Wesley Michel Wright Award
- 1992 - winner of the David Myers University Medal (La Trobe University, Melbourne)
- 1996 - winner of the Mary Gilmore Award for Nervous Arcs
- 1996 - runner-up for the FAW Anne Elder Award for Nervous Arcs
- 1996 - shortlisted for the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry for Nervous Arcs
- 1997 - recipient of the D.J. (Dinny) O’Hearn Memorial Fellowship (University of Melbourne)
- 1999 - runner-up for the Gwen Harwood Memorial Prize for 'The Fall'
- 2003 - winner of the MusicOz Songwriting Award for 'Dreaming Transportation'; composer Andrée Greenwell
- 2003 - shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary AwardVictorian Premier's Literary AwardThe Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Governmentwith the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry....
, C.J. Dennis Prize for Poetry for The Fall - 2003 - shortlisted for the Queensland Premier's Literary Award, Judith Wright Calanthe Prize for Poetry for The Fall
- 2004 - shortlisted for the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry for The Fall
- 2004 - winner of the Grand Prix Marulic, Croatia, for CD Dreaming Transportation; composer Andrée Greenwell
- 2008 - shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Best Music-Theatre Script Award for The Hanging of Jean Lee; composer Andrée Greenwell
- 2010 - winner of the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry for the sonnet according to 'm
- 2010 - runner-up for the Chief Minister's Award (ACT) for the sonnet according to 'm
External links
- Six Villain-elles at softblow.org
- Soul vs Body a poem
- Things to do (Heart)
- The Hanging of Jean Lee - ABC Radio NationalRadio NationalABC Radio National is an Australia-wide non-commercial radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Radio National broadcasts national programming in areas that include news and current affairs, the arts, social issues, science, drama and comedy...
Poetica's sound version of Andrée Greenwell's composed work in full, with libretto by Jordie Albiston