Jake Dennis

Summary

Jake Dennis “PoetOfJazz” is a Burmese-Australian entertainer (singer, actor, poet), educator, and events manager based in Boorloo/Perth whose chapbooks The Exhibition and Gone were published by QPoetry this year. Representing WA Poets Inc as part of Writing WA’s Emerging Writers Program, his debut poetry collection Journeying is currently under consideration with publishers.

Biography

For over twenty-five years, Burmese-Australian WA-based entertainer Jake Dennis “PoetOfJazz” has worked as a singer, poet, and actor on stage, radio, and television with ongoing corporate, community, and private bookings.
A passionate, endearing, and hard-working creative, Jake is a highly-sought after workshop facilitator and arts events coordinator whose prize-winning poetry is regularly published in arts journals, newspapers, and anthologies locally, nationally, and internationally. Specialising in mentoring and working with diverse audiences from a range of marginalised backgrounds, and with careers in administration, freelance journalism/editing, marketing/promotions, and retail, Jake brings industry-level experience and quality to every project.

Relevant qualifications

Bachelor of Arts in Communication & Cultural Studies (Creative Writing/Literary & Cultural Studies), Curtin University
Education Theory & Classroom Management Units (Diploma of Education, Secondary), Edith Cowan University

2024 Prizes: MIFWA Open Your Mind (1st), Fullers Poetry Competition (2nd), Haiku on Hay (Commended).
2023 Prizes: Red Room #30in30 (Poetry Month Winner Commission), WAPI Secret City Micro-Residency, Queensland Writers Centre Mentorship with Naomi Shihab Nye.

Previous Awards: Right Now: Human Rights Poetry Award, Now & Then: Literature Prize, Curtin University Creative Writing Award, Young Writer-in-Residence, Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre, etc.

Recent experience

2024 Big Sky Readers & Writers Festival (City of Greater Geraldton): Guest Speaker, Event Host, & Workshop Facilitator
2024 Hillview Intercultural Community Centre (City of Canning): Poetry Lovers Perth Poetry Workshop Facilitator/Program Organiser
2023 Perth Poetry Festival (WA Poets Inc) & Perth Poetry Club Guest Poet
2023 Curtin University School of Medicine and Occupational Therapy (The Experience Lab): Adult-Learning Workshop Facilitator
2018 The University Of Western Australia School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine: New Approaches To Teaching Team Member