'My life is about to begin. This is the only thought in Irene’s head on the day she marries a handsome Second World War veteran and becomes a farmer’s wife. But Irene quickly grows restless. Bored to her back teeth, she is scornful of her dutiful husband, heedless of her children. She wants adventure, to experience whatever is on offer: men, travel, culture. As Irene and Rex raise children and crops, the tension between them builds and builds …
'Kate Jennings’s black humour and pared-back prose, at once understated and rich in startling imagery, resonate long after the final unnerving chapter. Set in an irrigation area – barren soil blessed by water – Snake is a modern classic.' (Publication summary)
Why Kate Jennings Is There in Everything Erik Jensen Writes
Michael Williams
(presenter),
2024
27637539
2024
single work
podcast
'Erik Jensen was just 20 years old when he met Australian author Kate Jennings for the first time, forging a close relationship that continued until Kate’s death in 2021. This week, Michael chats with The Saturday Paper’s editor in chief about Kate’s life and her underappreciated work and Erik shares why her novel, Snake, is the best Australian book he’s ever read.' (Production summary)
Erik Jensen on Kate Jennings
Carlton
:
Black Inc.
,
2017
11466092
2017
single work
essay
'Kate says she doesn’t know what to say about writing. When people ask, she tells them to prepare for a life of failure.
'Award-winning writer Erik Jensen plunges the reader into the world of acclaimed novelist, poet and pioneering feminist Kate Jennings. Weaving in his interviews with Jennings in New York, he shows how poetry, politics and family were transmuted into her first novel, Snake – a work of art that depicts rural Australia in a funny, cutting and unforgettable way. This is a biography of a book and the life that made it.' (Publication summary)
