Jennifer Compton

Jennifer Compton was born in Wellington (New Zealand) and now lives in Melbourne (Australia). the moment, taken is her eleventh book of poetry. Her third book, Blue, was shortlisted for the Kenneth Slessor Prize For Poetry; her sixth book, Barefoot, was shortlisted for the John Bray Poetry Award; her seventh book, This City, won the Kathleen Grattan Award; her tenth book, Mr Clean & The Junkie, was longlisted for the Ockham NZ Book Awards. In 2013 her poem, Now You Shall Know, won the Newcastle Poetry Prize. She very much appreciates being given the big cheque but she also relishes the hurly burly of the open mic and is an avid performer. So she was delighted to be included in the recent UQP anthology of Spoken Word, Solid Air. And delighted in equal measure to have had work selected for The Best Australian Poetry in 2003 and 2009, and for The Best Australian Poems in 2004 2005 2008 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 and 2017.

Author's books

the moment, taken

$19.95

the moment, taken is Jennifer Compton’s eleventh book of poetry. At this late stage she has yielded to the absolute lure of eidectic memory. That is – ‘relating to or denoting images having unusual vividness and detail as if actually visible.’ And there is the pleasure in poetry for her. The damage, the drama, the tableau, the tall tale and true. It must be knocked out of true. There are rules.