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Works By

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1 Still Bisexual Phoebe Paterson de Heer , 2020 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Meanjin , June vol. 79 no. 2 2020; (p. 112-119)
'I’ve been thinking about bisexuality. Identity, visibility, queerness, truth. I’ve been thinking about these things as I read and talk, as I work and watch and sleep. It’s an attempt to come home to myself, to call back the parts I have been lonely without. On a visit to Melbourne for a festival, I experience anew the small thrill of thankfulness and determination that for me comes with being seen as queer; with being seen. I’m surprised to find my favourite thing about the fortnight I spend there is that in Melbourne I am new to everyone I meet. I am unfettered by assumptions they might make if they had more—but not complete— information. Here I am subject to different assumptions, ones that release me to the fullness of my identity.' (Introduction)
1 Women’s Work Phoebe Paterson de Heer , 2019 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , February 2019;

'I’ve always loved building, fixing and feeling capable in practical tasks – but in a society that still sees manual labour through a gendered lens, the attitudes of men around me have frustrated this desire at every turn.' (Introduction)

1 An Agricultural Uprising : On Call of the Reed Warbler Phoebe Paterson de Heer , 2018 single work essay
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , April 2018;

'It’s early, just after six, and I’m crouching in the field between rows of cherry tomatoes, the plants’ wayward branches brushing against my arms and staining them yellowy green. On the mornings of hot farm days I dress in the dark and load dusty black crates into the boot of my car, then drive through hills and vineyards gilded by the rising sun.'  (Introduction)

1 Off Yer Bike! Phoebe Paterson de Heer , 2016 single work essay
— Appears in: Voiceworks , Spring no. 105 2016; (p. 27-32)
'I used to ride everywhere. From the age of sixteen, when I moved out of home, I'd cycle up the hill and over the highway to uni on my old Kmart mountain bike with the milk crate strapped to the back. I'd ride home from the supermarket with plastic bags hanging precariously from the handlebars. I'd hop on my bike to visit friends, whether they lived around the corner or on the other side of town. Eventually I started riding for fun too, taking long, meandering adventures along the coast on weekends. But I really got into riding when I was eighteen and lived in Vancouver for a year on exchange. My daily commute took an hour and a half, through the suburbs and up a mountain I could see on the horizon from my bedroom window. When I reached the summit, steam would rise from my body and dissipate in the thick winter air. It was quicker on the way home, of course, hurtling down the slope with stiff fingers clutching at the brake levers, a terrified grin making my teeth chatter.' 

 (Publication abstract)

1 Skin Phoebe Paterson de Heer Phoebe Paterson de Heer , 2013 single work essay
— Appears in: Voiceworks , Spring no. 94 2013; (p. 12-14)

'It's summer's first gasps. All the doors in the house are open and the air is thick with morning. I'm cultivating a scene for him to stumble into, lying on my stomach in short shorts, some underground hip-hop oozing from the laptop, reading the news. But I'm waiting too long and the vignette is getting stale. I get up and pour myself some water, wander barefoot in the dusty backyard and think about the mess of the evening before. Of riding home early in the morning, spent and sore and relieved to be alone. I've made some poor decisions lately. I want to start making better ones. But my skin is newly clean and the day is glittering, and when I hear a soft, cheery voice wafting through from the open door I get nervous and I can feel it in my legs'. (Publication abstract)

 

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