Nothing is Fixed – Jean James
Originally from Portadown, Co Armagh, Jean James now lives in Swansea, Wales, where she says it rains just as much as it used to do in Northern Ireland and the fields are equally green. She left her native land after completing a degree in Ancient and Modern History at Queen’s University Belfast. Her time there (1970 – 1974) coincided with a very turbulent period in the province’s history.
Having retired from full-time work, she undertook a Creative Writing MA at Swansea University where, with encouragement from her tutor Nigel Jenkins, she returned to ‘The Troubles’ as a stimulus for her poetry. In addition, she reaches back into a more rural childhood, with links to Tyrone and Fermanagh, as an inspiration for her nature poems.
Being introduced to a greater variety of poetry, has encouraged Jean to write in new forms: haibun and tanka, and this has led to success in the British Haiku Society competitions, as a winner in the 2013 haibun competition, and as a winner and runner-up in the 2015 tanka competition.
She continues to work with words and is currently engaged in her first long fiction writing, again based on experiences in Northern Ireland.
© Jean James