Josie McSkimming Josie McSkimming i(29170634 works by)
Gender: Female
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1 I Was an Evangelical Christian for 35 Years – Until My Transgressive Big Sister Gave Me the Courage to Break Free Josie McSkimming , 2025 single work column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 13 February 2025;

'My sister Dorothy Porter was a bohemian gay poet; I was a respectable church handmaiden. But she cracked the door open for me to start seeing the world differently' (Introduction)

1 6 y separately published work icon Gutsy Girls : Love, Poetry and Sisterhood Josie McSkimming , St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 2025 29170673 2025 single work biography

'A unique behind-the-scenes story of love, sisterhood and the trail-blazing Australian poet Dorothy Porter

'Dorothy Porter was one of Australia's most charismatic and courageous literary figures. Achieving broader fame through her bestselling queer crime verse novel, The Monkey's Mask, and its film adaptation, she took poetry and performance to new heights.

'Her younger sister, Josie McSkimming, watched Dot become an award-winning poet, but it was a family of complex dynamics. Born to renowned barrister Chester Porter, Dot, Josie and their sister, Mary, grew up in an unpredictable family home on Sydney's northern beaches. Each forged her own impressive career, but Josie and Dot sought very different escapes from their formidable father. Josie fell into (and out of) evangelical Christianity and psychotherapy while Dot found 'the Arts' and sex.

'With unprecedented access to Porter's personal diaries and letters, Gutsy Girls is an intimate story of sisterhood, finding creative power and blazing your own trail.'  (Publication summary)

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