Gif by thegoodandthebeautiful on Giphy
Welcome to this month’s newsletter!
And Happy World Poetry Day.
Keep reading to discover updates on my own poetry journey…
Updates from the laptop of Jacqui
Today’s newsletter contains:
Melbourne City of Literature partnership with Leeuwarden City of Literature chain poem
Your Monthly Recommendation
Spotlight - Update on 100 rejections
In Other News…
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Sunrise over my local wetlands…
Feature Story
The Flight of the Bar-tailed Godwit
The Flight of the Bar-tailed Godwit poetry project
The Melbourne & Leeuwarden (The Netherlands) Cities of Literature have combined together to invite 4 poets from each city to meet in a virtual writer’s room. Each fortnight one of the poets will be challenged to write a poem to celebrate the achievements of an extraordinary bird called the Bar-tailed Godwit with the aim of creating a link chain poem connecting Melbourne and Leeuwarden.
I’m incredibly honoured to have been selected to participate in this unique opportunity.
We met for the first time on 11 March with our host, Emilie Collyer, leading us through discussions on our experiences with birds and she also shared her own poetic response to the journey of the Bar-tailed Godwit.
The Bar-tailed Godwit has the longest migratory flight of any bird with one Godwit recording an incredible long distance flight from Alaska to Tasmania of 13,500 kilometres in 11 days of non-stop flying.
It is a wonderful privilege to be part of something like this and I hope that by creating the chain poem, myself and the other poets can raise awareness of the vulnerability that migratory shorebirds face given the ongoing threats to their habitats.
See the links below for more on the Bar-tailed Godwit and the poetry exchange program.
The Review
YOUR MONTHLY RECOMMENDATION
DUNE by Frank Herbert
Later this year part 3 of Denis Villeneuve series will be released.
I’ve watched every movie so far and enjoyed them immensely.
I remember reading the books a long time ago and certainly the first one became a firm favourite.
It’s a difficult book to grapple with mainly because the story is so complex but worth persisting with I think.
There are an endless number of sequels, many written by Herbert’s son who carried on his father’s legacy however I’ve barely managed to read much beyond ‘Dune Messiah’ which I think rounds out the series in a satisfying way. I’ll be interested to see if this is where the film also completes the story of Paul Atreides.
What about you? Have you read the books (& how many) and watched any of the films?
BOOKS TO FILM ADAPTATIONS IN 2026
Wuthering Heights
Project Hail Mary
The Far Away Tree
The Odyssey
Dune 3
How many do you want to see?
Spotlighting
FOR THE CREATORS AMONG US
Last month I shared my hope in the 100 rejections strategy which is basically the idea that to neutalise the sting that comes with rejection a writer can reframe rejections as targets instead. By setting a goal of 100 rejections by the end of the year, my aim is twofold:
I am writing and sending out enough to achieve 100 rejections which a) keeps me writing and b) hopefully with all that practice, my writing will improve
By seeking so many rejections, perhaps I may also gain one or two acceptances along the way.
So far the strategy is working and I’m not letting the rejections impact me the way they used to.
100 rejections update
I’m now at 11 rejections for 2026 with I think at least 3 and possibly 4 more to come soon.
A Final Note
IN OTHER NEWS
I’m also going to be part of an upcoming festival celebrating the arts and creativity in my local area.
As part of the Frankston Writer’s Salon, I’m going to be presenting between 6 - 8 pieces of poetry and micro-fiction in a free public event to be held at the Frankston Library on Sunday 17 May, 1.00pm - 3.00pm.
Bookings can be made here:
“I love my rejection slips. They show me I’m trying.” – Most commonly attributed to Sylvia Plath.
Until next time,