Wendy Jenkins (poet) explained

Wendy Elizabeth Jenkins (1952 – December 2022) was an Australian poet and editor at Fremantle Press for 43 years. She also wrote as Jenna Kinsey.

Life

Jenkins was born in Perth, Western Australia.^[1] She was the fourth generation of her family to live in Fremantle.^[2]

As an editor at Fremantle Press, Jenkins reviewed over 10,000 manuscripts.^[3] One of them was Albert Facey's, A Fortunate Life, which she discovered early in her career and later described as "an important social document as well as a compelling personal story simply told".^[4] Other writers whose work she nurtured include John Kinsella, Joan London and Kim Scott.^[5]

She served on the Literature Board of the Australia Council from 1985 to 1987.^{[6] [7]}

Jenkins retired from Fremantle Press in 2019, after 43 years' service.

She died in December 2022, aged 70.

Awards and recognition

Jenkins was joint winner of the Western Australian Sesquicentenary Literary Competition's short story prize for "Uneasy Rider" in 1979. She and Ray Coffey won the Special Award at the 1986 Western Australian Premier's Book Awards for Portrait: A West Coast Collection.^[8]

Jenkins was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours in recognition of her contribution to literature as author, editor and publisher and for her mentoring of Australian writers.^[9]

Selected works

Poetry

• Out of Water into Light, 1979
• Rogue Equations, 2000

Young adult novels

• Hot News, as Jenna Kinsey, 1990, republished 1997 as Jenkins
• Killer Boots, 1996
• The Big Game, 1998
• Gunna Burn, 2000

As editor

• Portrait: A West Coast Collection, co-edited with Ray Coffey, 1986
• No Substitute: Prose, Poems, Images, co-edited with Terri-Ann White, Anna Gibbs and Noel King, 1990
• Reading from the Left, editor, 1994
• The Moving World: Poems, by Michael Heald, 2011

Notes and References

1. Web site: Wendy Jenkins . 2024-05-22 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
2. Web site: Miller . Claire . 2022-12-20 . VALE Wendy Jenkins AM . 2024-05-22 . Fremantle Press . en-AU.
3. Web site: Wilson . Josh . 2023-02-06 . In memory of poet Wendy Jenkins . 2024-05-22 . Josh Wilson MP.
4. Web site: Jenkins . Wendy . 2011-04-13 . Tales from the Backlist: A Fortunate Life turns 30 . 2024-05-22 . Fremantle Press . en-AU.
5. Web site: RIchter . Georgia . 2020-02-11 . Fremantle Press bids farewell to editor and manuscript assessor Wendy Jenkins, who retires after four decades of service to the Western Australian literary community . 2024-05-22 . Fremantle Press . en-AU.
6. Web site: 1984/1985 Annual Report . 2024-05-22 . Trove . Australia Council . 84 . en.
7. Web site: 1986/1987 Annual Report . 2024-05-22 . Trove . Australia Council . 41 . en.
8. Web site: Portrait : A West Coast Collection . 2024-05-22 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
9. Web site: Ms Wendy Elizabeth Jenkins . 2024-05-22 . Australian Honours Search Facility.