Jan Owen (born 18 August 1940) is a contemporary Australian poet.

Life

Jan Owen was born Janette Muriel Sincock in

Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

, attending school there and in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, leaving early to work as a laboratory assistant. During the 60s she studied arts part-time at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

, then librarianship, and later travelled extensively in Europe and Asia. Owen has worked as a writer, creative writing teacher and editor since 1985."Secular Hymns: Three Secular Poets on Religion" on ''The Spirit of Things'', ABC-TV, 2002-12-22
/ref> In July 2016 she was awarded the Philip Hodgins Memorial Medal at the

Mildura Writers' Festival Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, New South Wales, Wentworth, Irymple, Victo ...

Poetry

Owen began writing poetry in her thirties, and her first collection, ''Boy with Telescope'' (1986), won the

Anne Elder Award The Anne Elder Trust Fund Award for poetry was administered by the Victorian branch of the Fellowship of Australian Writers from its establishment in 1976 until 2017. From 2018 the award has been administered by Australian Poetry. It is awarded ann ...

. She has had several writer's residencies in Australia and also in Italy, France, Malaysia, and Scotland. Her awards include the Philip Hodgins Memorial Medal, the

Mary Gilmore Prize __NOTOC__ The Mary Gilmore Award is currently an annual Australian literary award for poetry, awarded by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Since being established in 1956 as the ACTU Dame Mary Gilmore Award, it has been award ...

and the

Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize The Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize (also known as the Gwen Harwood Memorial Poetry Prize) was created in 1996 in memory of the Tasmanian poet, Gwen Harwood. The prize is run by Island Magazine and is awarded to a single poem or a linked suite of poems. ...

. In 2007, she won the Max Harris Poetry Award for her poem "Scent, Comb, Spoon".Max Harris Poetry Award 2007
/ref> The judges wrote: "a well crafted poem full of intriguing resonances on the theme of memory and association. The poem spins a chain of possibilities and disharmonies but always returns to the idea of the value of what we have experienced. This is a poem of turns and surprises and we enjoyed it more with each reading". In a radio interview in 2002, Owen said that "I sometimes think that I should be writing political satire or trying to tackle the real problems of this world, and then I remember a Taoist saying which is 'You think you can improve the world? I do not think it can be done'." In the same interview, she also said that "poetry is against dogma, against a final certainty, it's very unsettling. ... I think we need the challenge and the shake-up, and the freshness of a new way of looking at things which poetry can give us." Owen has read her poems at

Friendly Street Poets Friendly Street Poets, often referred to as just Friendly Street, is a poetry reading group and publisher in Adelaide, South Australia, established in 1975. History Friendly Street Poets was inaugurated as a fortnightly poetry reading on 11 Nove ...

and been published in their anthologies.

Bibliography

Poetry

* ''Boy with Telescope'' (

Angus & Robertson Angus & Robertson (A&R) is a major Australian bookseller, publisher and printer. As book publishers, A&R has contributed substantially to the promotion and development of Australian literature.Alison, Jennifer (2001). "Publishers and editors: A ...

, 1986) * ''Fingerprints on light'' (Angus & Robertson, 1990) * ''Blackberry season'' (Molonglo, 1993) * ''Night rainbows'' (William Heinemann, 1994) * ''Timedancing'' (Five Islands, 2002) * ''Blackberry Season'' 2nd edition (Picaro Press, 2007) * ''Poems 1980-2008'' (John Leonard Press, 2008)

Edited

* Co-edited with * ''Time's Collision with the Tongue'' With Peter Boyle (Coal River, 2000) * ''Living Room: Poems from the Centre'' (Ptilotus, 2003)
Review

References

External links

about Maastricht International Poetry Nights {{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Jan 1940 births Australian poets Living people Writers from Adelaide Australian women poets