On the last day of the year I’m reflecting on the writing work I completed in 2019 and, with this post, I hope to celebrate and share those words with you.
I started the year with a goal of accumulating 100 rejections for my writing and academic work; a goal I hoped would spur me on to submit more than previous years. I came nowhere close to my 100 rejections goal but I submitted to and applied for around 46 opportunities throughout the year and I received some positive and encouraging feedback amongst my acceptances and rejections. These are the things of mine that entered the world in 2019:
- Four interviews with theatre-makers from across Australia
- I reviewed 148 shows on Night Writes including 83 plays, 12 musicals, 6 comedies, 11 dance performances, 25 concerts, 8 festivals, 2 circus performances, and 1 gallery opening
- Some of my favourites: The Irresistible, Made to Measure, and Beware of Pity among others
- Published two poems with Scum Mag and Ayaskala
- Wrote an article for Incent about finance gurus
- Enrolled in my PhD
- Delivered my first conference paper on the work of Melinda Bufton at the Bodies of Work Post-Graduate Conference in October
- Reviewed The Hijab Files by Maryam Azam in Bone Bouquet
- Reviewed Domestic Interior by Fiona Wright in Rabbit
As this is the last day of the 2010s, it’s funny to think I began the decade as a high school student knowing little to nothing about poetry and having never seriously written a poem before. I had a vague understanding of the academic career I wanted to pursue but had made no clear steps towards that end and I probably still pictured myself as a future novelist. In acknowledgement of my fledgling 2010 self, let’s recount some of the writing highlights of my last decade:
- Completed my Bachelor of Arts and Honours
- Started reading and writing poetry including submitting a suite of poems for my Extension English Major Work
- Branched into blogging with my beauty blog (formerly known as Miss Julziez)
- Wrote and directed my first play with the Sydney University Dramatic Society
- Published my first reviews and articles in Honi Soit
- Some of my favourites: “A Weekend in the Country (Women’s Association)” and “Won the Battles, Lost the War: The Arts of War, the 2015 Arts Revue“
- Published my early poems in ARNA, Growing Strong, Bull Magazine, and Carillon
- Won the Verge Award for Poetry in 2015 and was shortlisted in the Drama and Prose categories
- Won the Dame Leonie Kramer Prize in Australian Poetry for my honours thesis
- Met countless admirable and inspiring people across literature, academic, theatre, and other arts communities who challenge and influence my practise in invaluable ways
The 2010s will always be an important decade for me because it encapsulated the beginning of my adult life and included many of the huge steps I’ve taken personally and professionally to get me to where I am today, entering 2020 with more poems, reviews, and a thesis to write.
Thank you for reading and supporting my work in 2019 and beyond. Happy New Year!
Julia Clark 