A Day in the Life with John Jenkins

I live on Melbourne’s rural outskirts, close to middle stretches of the Yarra River, on a horse property of 20 acres, close to the famed Yarra Valley, a premier wine-growing area of Victoria. My suburb of Kangaroo Ground is aptly named, as up to 60 kangaroos hop through our place every day.

I recently retired from journalism, book editing and sessional university work, and now write full-time, in between doing work on our property. In winter, this typically means cutting and collecting firewood, fixing the occasional fence and rugging the horses at night.

My partner Shan is also a budding writer, as well as a keen equestrian and artist. While she is working away downstairs – on a book about a retired police horse – I tap away upstairs, usually drafting a new short story.

I edit my work in the ‘quiet study area’ of our local library, with its excellent coffee shop next door, and for breaks from work we enjoy going into town for dinner, music concerts, theatre, art exhibitions and meeting family and friends.

John Jenkins is a widely published and much-travelled former journalist who now lives on the rural outskirts of Melbourne and writes short fiction, non-fiction, plays and poetry. He was anthologised in Knitting and other stories (MRP, 2013) and is presently putting the finishing touches on his tenth poetry collection.