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Issue Details: First known date: 2012... 2012 Marionette : Notes Toward the Life and Times of Miss Marion Davies
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'The poems within marionette: notes toward the life of miss marion davies are drawn from my longer poetic biography of the early cinema actress, who was the long-time lover of millionaire media tycoon William Randolph Hearst. Marion's silencing by the early cinema screen provides a powerful metaphor for her subsequent ‘silencing’ by Hearst, who largely controlled her career and—as much as he could—her actions in public. Marion’s story is marked by whispers, gossip, rumors, lies, and plot holes. marionette is an attempt to enact and recover Marion’s playful voice and spirit.' (Publication summary)

Adaptations

y separately published work icon Marionette : A Biography of Miss Marion Davies Jessica Wilkinson , Simon Charles (composer), Victoria : Sibercha Records , 2018 16606520 2018 selected work poetry

'“Marion Davies is perhaps best known for her 30-year affair with media mogul William Randolph Hearst, whose influence was instrumental in shaping her public image as an early cinema actress. The millionaire tycoon largely controlled her career and—as much as he could—her actions in public. Whilst there are countless biographies on William Randolph Hearst, there are very few texts written specifically on Marion Davies. The closest we can get to her story is an autobiography, The Times We Had: Life with William Randolph Hearst, cobbled together from a series of taped interviews, in which Marion often conceals the truth to protect her lover and friends.

'Jessica L. Wilkinson’s original text marionette: a biography of miss marion davies (published by Vagabond in 2012) draws attention to the gaps and inconsistencies in her story, whilst also attempting—playfully—to locate the voice and spirit of a woman whose story can never be fully told.

'This album release documents the creative partnership between Simon Charles and Jessica Wilkinson, which brings Wilkinson’s text into a CD format. Read by Wilkinson herself, the text is accompanied by a collage of instrumental and electro-acoustic performances. The album explores the fragmentation and disintegration of text, manipulation of vocal utterance, and a construction of Davies’ image through peripheral threads of narrative and sound.”"' (Production abstract)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Vagabond Press , 2012 .
      image of person or book cover 2111454153230838871.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 1vp.
      Series: y separately published work icon Rare Object Series Vagabond Press Rare Object Series Vagabond Press (publisher), Sydney : Vagabond Press , 1999- Z1899457 1999- series - publisher poetry '... Vagabond Press started with the Rare Object Series in July 1999, publishing two small chapbooks of poetry by David Brooks and Nick Riemer. More than a decade later the series is still going strong and has emerged as an iconic publishing venture in Australian poetry, bringing together the key emerging and established Australian poets at the turn into the twenty-first century, and being remarkable for the quality of the work published and the design and production values. Originally based on a combination of the design values of French press Fata Morgana and Neil Astley's beautiful Poetical Histories series, the Rare Objects are remarkable for the cover art produced by Kay Orchison, exquisitely conceived and designed in response to each poet's work. The chapbooks are printed in limited editions of 100 copies, signed and numbered by the author. ...' (Vagabond Press website) Number in series: 67

Works about this Work

Words Take Shape on the Printed Page Jaya Savige , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 7-8 June 2014; (p. 7)

— Review of Australian Poetry Journal vol. 3 no. 2 2014 periodical issue ; Marionette : Notes Toward the Life and Times of Miss Marion Davies Jessica Wilkinson , 2012 selected work poetry
X Marks the Parataxis : Louis Armand, John Kinsella and Jessica L. Wilkinson Javant Biarujia , 2014 single work criticism
— Appears in: Cordite Poetry Review , 1 May no. 46.0 2014;
'Displacement is apparent both geographically and textually in Letters from Ausland by Louis Armand, The Vision of Error by John Kinsella (subtitled, ‘A Sextet of Activist Poems’) and marionette by jessica l. wilkinson (written here all in lower-case and subtitled, ‘a biography of miss marion davies’). All three poets are or have been editors of literary magazines: Armand edits VLAK, out of Prague; Kinsella, SALT; and Wilkinson, Rabbit (why does this name always remind me of Wittgenstein’s drawing of a rabbit that can also be perceived as a duck?) Armand and Kinsella have also collaborated on a number of books.' (Author's introduction)
Inkblots and Different Fonts Alison Clifton , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Poetry Journal , vol. 3 no. 2 2014; (p. 53-54)

— Review of Marionette : Notes Toward the Life and Times of Miss Marion Davies Jessica Wilkinson , 2012 selected work poetry ; Rawshock Toby Fitch , 2012 selected work poetry
Aspects of Australian Poetry in 2012 Michelle Cahill , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: Westerly , June vol. 58 no. 1 2013; (p. 68-91)

'T he act of reading for appraisal rather than pleasure is a privilege that brings me to a deepened understanding of the contemporary in Australian poetry, the way the past is being framed, its traditions, celebrities and enigmas washed up in new and hybrid appearances or redressed in more conventional, sometimes nimbus forms. Judith Wright wrote that the ‘place to find clues is not in the present, it lies in the past: a shallow past, as all immigrants to Australia know, and all of us are immigrants.’ The discipline of reading to filter such a range of voices underlines my foreignness, making reading akin to translation, whilst reciprocally inviting the reader of this essay to become a foreigner to my assumptions and conclusions.' (Introduction)

Best of 2012 : The Top 10 Poetic Works Ali Alizadeh , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , December 2012;

— Review of The Jaguar's Dream : Translations, Adaptations, Versions, Extrapolations, Interpolations, Afters, Takes and Departures John Kinsella , 2012 selected work poetry ; Ash Is Here, So are Stars Jill Jones , 2012 selected work poetry ; The Family Idiot Fiona Hile , 2012 selected work poetry ; Autoethnographic Michael Brennan , 2012 selected work poetry ; 2012 and Other Poems Amanda Anastasi , 2012 selected work poetry ; Water Mirrors Nick Powell , 2012 selected work poetry ; Ruby Moonlight Ali Cobby Eckermann , 2012 single work novel ; Mogwie-Idan : Stories of the Land Lionel Fogarty , 2012 selected work poetry ; Marionette : Notes Toward the Life and Times of Miss Marion Davies Jessica Wilkinson , 2012 selected work poetry
Poetry Two New Long Poems Ali Alizadeh , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , June 2012;

— Review of Marionette : Notes Toward the Life and Times of Miss Marion Davies Jessica Wilkinson , 2012 selected work poetry ; Ruby Moonlight Ali Cobby Eckermann , 2012 single work novel
Best of 2012 : The Top 10 Poetic Works Ali Alizadeh , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , December 2012;

— Review of The Jaguar's Dream : Translations, Adaptations, Versions, Extrapolations, Interpolations, Afters, Takes and Departures John Kinsella , 2012 selected work poetry ; Ash Is Here, So are Stars Jill Jones , 2012 selected work poetry ; The Family Idiot Fiona Hile , 2012 selected work poetry ; Autoethnographic Michael Brennan , 2012 selected work poetry ; 2012 and Other Poems Amanda Anastasi , 2012 selected work poetry ; Water Mirrors Nick Powell , 2012 selected work poetry ; Ruby Moonlight Ali Cobby Eckermann , 2012 single work novel ; Mogwie-Idan : Stories of the Land Lionel Fogarty , 2012 selected work poetry ; Marionette : Notes Toward the Life and Times of Miss Marion Davies Jessica Wilkinson , 2012 selected work poetry
Inkblots and Different Fonts Alison Clifton , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Poetry Journal , vol. 3 no. 2 2014; (p. 53-54)

— Review of Marionette : Notes Toward the Life and Times of Miss Marion Davies Jessica Wilkinson , 2012 selected work poetry ; Rawshock Toby Fitch , 2012 selected work poetry
Words Take Shape on the Printed Page Jaya Savige , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 7-8 June 2014; (p. 7)

— Review of Australian Poetry Journal vol. 3 no. 2 2014 periodical issue ; Marionette : Notes Toward the Life and Times of Miss Marion Davies Jessica Wilkinson , 2012 selected work poetry
Aspects of Australian Poetry in 2012 Michelle Cahill , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: Westerly , June vol. 58 no. 1 2013; (p. 68-91)

'T he act of reading for appraisal rather than pleasure is a privilege that brings me to a deepened understanding of the contemporary in Australian poetry, the way the past is being framed, its traditions, celebrities and enigmas washed up in new and hybrid appearances or redressed in more conventional, sometimes nimbus forms. Judith Wright wrote that the ‘place to find clues is not in the present, it lies in the past: a shallow past, as all immigrants to Australia know, and all of us are immigrants.’ The discipline of reading to filter such a range of voices underlines my foreignness, making reading akin to translation, whilst reciprocally inviting the reader of this essay to become a foreigner to my assumptions and conclusions.' (Introduction)

X Marks the Parataxis : Louis Armand, John Kinsella and Jessica L. Wilkinson Javant Biarujia , 2014 single work criticism
— Appears in: Cordite Poetry Review , 1 May no. 46.0 2014;
'Displacement is apparent both geographically and textually in Letters from Ausland by Louis Armand, The Vision of Error by John Kinsella (subtitled, ‘A Sextet of Activist Poems’) and marionette by jessica l. wilkinson (written here all in lower-case and subtitled, ‘a biography of miss marion davies’). All three poets are or have been editors of literary magazines: Armand edits VLAK, out of Prague; Kinsella, SALT; and Wilkinson, Rabbit (why does this name always remind me of Wittgenstein’s drawing of a rabbit that can also be perceived as a duck?) Armand and Kinsella have also collaborated on a number of books.' (Author's introduction)
Last amended 22 May 2019 12:27:28
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