Kate Jennings Explained

Kate Jennings
Birth Name:Catherine Ruth Jennings
Birth Date:1948 5, df=yes
Birth Place:Temora, New South Wales, Australia
Death Place:New York City, New York, U.S.
Education:University of Sydney
Notableworks:Moral Hazard
Awards:Various (see below)
Years Active:1970–2021

Catherine Ruth Jennings (20 May 1948 – 1 May 2021[1]) was an Australian poet, essayist, memoirist, and novelist.

Biography

Jennings grew up on a farm near Griffith, New South Wales. She attended the University of Sydney in the late 1960s, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours. She was active in feminist and left wing-movements, in particular gaining notoriety for an incendiary speech given before a Vietnam Moratorium march in 1970 – a speech that is credited with signalling the beginning of the second wave of feminism in Australia.

She also edited Mother I'm Rooted, an anthology of women poets which was the object of much controversy.[2]

She moved to New York City in 1979, where she wrote for numerous magazines and newspapers, in addition to a stint on Wall Street as a speechwriter.[2]

Personal life and death

In 1983, Jennings met Bob Cato, a graphic designer, photographer, and collagist who helped turn the record album into an important form of contemporary art. They were married in 1987; he died in March 1999.[3]

Jennings died on 1 May 2021, in New York.[4] [2]

Works

Her poetry and short stories were well received, but she came into her own with her novels. Her first, Snake was described variously as "lethal and fast-moving" (Publishers Weekly)[5], "a narrative of pure anguish" (The Times Literary Supplement), and "possessing a holographic shimmer" (The New York Times Book Review).[6] It was reported to have just missed the Booker Prize shortlist. Moral Hazard has been called "humane and unsparing; witty, unsettling, and wildly intelligent" by Shirley Hazzard, author of The Transit of Venus.

Jennings was awarded the Christina Stead Prize for fiction for Moral Hazard, which was also shortlisted for the 2003 Miles Franklin Award, the Los Angeles Times Fiction Prize[7], and the Tasmania Pacific Region Prize. Snake was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, as was Moral Hazard.[8]

Both books contain strong autobiographical elements, Snake being about a girl growing up on a Riverina farm in the 1950s, and Moral Hazard about a couple facing Alzheimer's in the husband while the wife works as a speechwriter on Wall Street.

In 2008, she published Stanley and Sophie, a memoir ostensibly about her dogs but also about life in New York City after 9/11, politics in the US and her encounters with two macaques in Bali at the time of the 2005 bombing there.

In March 2010, she published "Trouble", an autobiographical collection of her best work from the last four decades, covering topics from politics, morality, finance, feminism and the writing life.

Jennings is also known for writing outspoken essays and op-eds on the state of fiction, the direction of feminism, malfeasance in the financial industry, and the abuse of language in the business world. Andrew Field, a prominent Nabokov scholar, describes Jennings as a "ferocious truth-teller", He also cites her "humor, her obdurate individuality, and her willingness to say what other people won't."

Awards and nominations

1991 winnerSteele Rudd Awardfor Women Falling Down in the Street
1993 winnerNBC Banjo Awards, NBC Turnbull Fox Phillips Poetry Prizefor Cats, Dogs and Pitchforks
1998 winnerMildura Writers' Festival, Philip Hodgins Memorial Medal[9]
2003 shortlistedThe Miles Franklin Awardfor Moral Hazard
2003 winnerAustralian Literature Society Gold Medalfor Moral Hazard
2003 winnerNSW Premier's Award, Christina Stead Prize for Fictionfor Moral Hazard
2003 winnerAdelaide Festival Fiction Prizefor Moral Hazard

Bibliography

Novels

Short fiction

Collections

Poetry

Collections
Anthologies (edited)

Articles

Essay collections

Memoirs

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 'I miss her': Poet and writer Kate Jennings dies aged 72 . . 2 May 2021 . 3 May 2021 . Mitchell, Georgina . Dye, John . https://web.archive.org/web/20210502034522/https://www.smh.com.au/national/i-miss-her-poet-and-writer-kate-jennings-dies-aged-72-20210502-p57o5u.html . 2 May 2021 . live.
  2. News: Moore . Nicole . 'Famously fed up' : How the work of feminist writer Kate Jennings changed Australia . 11 January 2024 . The Conversation . 5 May 2021.
  3. Web site: Bob Cato, 75, Designer of Covers for Albums . . 20 March 1999 . Nick . Ravo . en.
  4. Web site: Expat writer Kate Jennings had a voice both fierce and fun . . 2 May 2021 . 2 May 2021 . Haigh, Gideon . subscription . https://web.archive.org/web/20210503013158/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Farts%2Fbooks%2Fexpat-writer-kate-jennings-had-a-voice-both-fierce-and-fun%2Fnews-story%2F7bafe09361978b0a9c74c49651281b3b&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&nk=97d29b95bfed9a469cf8c987a43c4421-1620005517 . 3 May 2021 . live.
  5. Web site: 31 March 1997 . Snake by Kate Jennings . 22 July 2024 . Publisher's Weekly.
  6. Web site: Shields . Carol . 11 May 1997 . Scenes From a Mismarriage . 23 July 2024 . New York Times Archive.
  7. Web site: 10 March 2003 . Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalists Announced . 23 July 2024 . Los Angeles Times.
  8. Web site: 7 December 1997 . Notable Books of the Year 1997 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231114134720/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/07/books/notable-books-of-the-year-1997.html . November 14, 2023 . 23 July 2024 . The New York Times.
  9. Web site: Mildura Writers' Festival, Thursday 20 – Sunday 23 July 2006 . Arts Festival 07 Mildura/Wentworth . 4 August 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070608112227/http://www.mwaf.com.au/html/mainnav/writers.html . 8 June 2007 . dead .
  10. A recording of the lecture is available.