Jennifer Maiden
Jennifer Maiden is an Australian poet, novelist and essayist, born in Penrith, New South Wales in 1949. Her writing career spans from the late 1960s to the current day, with thirty-eight books (twenty-nine collections of poetry, three non-fiction works and six novels).
Her work is known for its new levels of experimentation, of lyricism, of analysing humanity and human condition in the permutations of power and powerlessness.
Her poetry collections published by Quemar Press are The Metronome (Electronic Edition. 2016), Appalachian Fall: Poems About Poverty in Power (2018), Selected Poems 1967-2018 (2018), brookings: the noun (2019), The Espionage Act (2020), Biological Necessity: New Poems (2021), Ox in Metal: New Poems (2022), Golden Bridge: New Poems (2023), and The China Shelf: New Poems (2024).
Her Quemar Press novels are Play With Knives (New Edition. 2016), Play With Knives: Two: Complicity (2016), Play With Knives: Three: George and Clare and the Grey Hat Hacker (2016), Play With Knives: Four: George and Clare, the Baby and the Bikies (2017), and Play With Knives: Five: George and Clare, the Malachite and the Diamonds (2018).
She has also been Writer in Residence at STARTTS (NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors), at universities and educational institutions, lectured at universities, and has also conducted over a thousand community literary workshops. Following her work as Writer in Residence at the NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors, Jennifer Maiden and the torture and trauma clinician and academic, Margaret Bennett, in 2019, collaborated on a workbook (published by Quemar Press) to assist torture or trauma survivors to write of their experiences, entitled Workbook Questions: Writing of Torture, Trauma Experience.
Quemar Press is also the publisher of Jennifer Maiden's book-length essays The Cuckold and the Vampires: an essay on some aspects of conservative political manipulation of art and literature, including the experimental, and the conservatives' creation of conflict (2020), and The Laps of the Gods: Power, Sexuality, Publishing and Literature: an exploratory essay (2023).
List of her awards:
The ALS Gold Medal (2015), Victorian Prize for Literature (2014), The FAW Christopher Brennan Award, Three Kenneth Slessor Prizes for Poetry, Two C. J. Dennis Prizes for Poetry, The Melbourne Age Book of the Year, Two The Melbourne Age Poetry Book of the Year awards, The Harri Jones Memorial Prize, The H.M. Butterly-F.Earle Hooper Award (University of Sydney), The Grenfell Henry Lawson Festival Prize, Shortlisted for the Griffin International Poetry Prize.
Bibliography:
Poetry Collections:
Tactics. (UQP, 1974)
The Problem of Evil. (Prism, 1975)
The Occupying Forces. (Gargoyle, 1975)
Mortal Details. (Rigmarole, 1977)
Birthstones. (Angus & Robertson, 1978)
The Border Loss. (Angus & Robertson, 1979)
For The Left Hand. (South Head, 1981)
The Trust. (Black Lightning, 1988)
Bastille Day. (NLA, 1990)
Selected Poems of Jennifer Maiden. (Penguin, 1990)
The Winter Baby. (Angus & Robertson, 1990)
Acoustic Shadow. (Penguin, 1993)
Mines. (Paper Bark, 1999) ISBN 90-5704-046-8
Friendly Fire. (Giramondo, 2005) ISBN 1-920882-12-X
Pirate Rain. (Giramondo, 2009) ISBN 978-1-920882-59-4
Intimate Geography: Selected Poems 1991-2010. (Bloodaxe Books, 2012) ISBN 978-1-85224-926-7
Liquid Nitrogen. (Giramondo, 2012) ISBN 978-1-920882-99-0
The Violence of Waiting. (Vagabond Press, 2013)
Drones and Phantoms. (Giramondo, 2014) ISBN 978-1-922146-72-4
The Fox Petition. (Giramondo, 2015) ISBN 978-1-922146-94-6
The Metronome. (Electronic Edition: Quemar Press, 2016) ISBN 978-0-9954181-0-3 , (Print Edition: Giramondo, 2017) ISBN 978-1-925336-21-4 (pbk.)
Appalachian Fall: Poems About Poverty in Power. (Quemar Press, 2018) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-9954181-7-2, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-9954181-8-9
Selected Poems 1967-2018. (Quemar Press, 2018) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6482342-0-3, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6482342-1-0
brookings: the noun. (Quemar Press, 2019) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6482342-7-2, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6482342-8-9
The Espionage Act. (Quemar Press, 2020) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6485552-2-3, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6485552-3-0
Biological Necessity: New Poems (Quemar Press, 2021) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6485552-8-5, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6485552-9-2
Ox in Metal: New Poems (Quemar Press, 2022) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6451720-4-1, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6451720-5-8
Golden Bridge: New Poems (Quemar Press, 2023) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6451720-8-9, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6451720-9-6
The China Shelf: New Poems (Quemar Press, 2024) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6457126-5-0, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6457126-6-7
Novels:
The Terms. (Hale & Iremonger, 1982)
Play With Knives. (Allen & Unwin, 1990. New Revised Electronic Edition: Quemar Press, 2016)
Play With Knives: Two: Complicity. (Quemar Press, 2016)
Play With Knives: Three: George and Clare and the Grey Hat Hacker. (Quemar Press, 2016) ISBN 978-0-9954181-2-7
Play With Knives: Four: George and Clare, the Baby and the Bikies. (Quemar Press, 2017) ISBN 978-0-9954181-5-8
Play With Knives & Play With Knives: Two: Complicity. (Quemar Press, 2018) ISBN 978-0-9954181-9-6 (Paperback)
Play With Knives: Three: George and Clare and the Grey Hat Hacker & Play With Knives: Four: George and Clare, the Baby and the Bikies. (Quemar Press, 2018) ISBN 978-0-6482342-2-7
Play With Knives: Five: George and Clare, the Malachite and the Diamonds. (Quemar Press, 2018) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6482342-5-8, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6482342-6-5
Non-Fiction:
Workbook Questions: Writing of Torture, Trauma Experience (Written in collaboration with Margaret Bennett). (Quemar Press, 2019) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6485552-1-6
The Cuckold and the Vampires: an essay on some aspects of conservative political manipulation of art and literature, including the experimental, and the conservatives' creation of conflict. (Quemar Press, 2020) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6485552-7-8, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6485552-5-4
The Laps of the Gods: Power, Sexuality, Publishing and Literature: an exploratory essay (Quemar Press, 2023) Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6457126-1-2
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Her work is known for its new levels of experimentation, of lyricism, of analysing humanity and human condition in the permutations of power and powerlessness.
Her poetry collections published by Quemar Press are The Metronome (Electronic Edition. 2016), Appalachian Fall: Poems About Poverty in Power (2018), Selected Poems 1967-2018 (2018), brookings: the noun (2019), The Espionage Act (2020), Biological Necessity: New Poems (2021), Ox in Metal: New Poems (2022), Golden Bridge: New Poems (2023), and The China Shelf: New Poems (2024).
Her Quemar Press novels are Play With Knives (New Edition. 2016), Play With Knives: Two: Complicity (2016), Play With Knives: Three: George and Clare and the Grey Hat Hacker (2016), Play With Knives: Four: George and Clare, the Baby and the Bikies (2017), and Play With Knives: Five: George and Clare, the Malachite and the Diamonds (2018).
She has also been Writer in Residence at STARTTS (NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors), at universities and educational institutions, lectured at universities, and has also conducted over a thousand community literary workshops. Following her work as Writer in Residence at the NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors, Jennifer Maiden and the torture and trauma clinician and academic, Margaret Bennett, in 2019, collaborated on a workbook (published by Quemar Press) to assist torture or trauma survivors to write of their experiences, entitled Workbook Questions: Writing of Torture, Trauma Experience.
Quemar Press is also the publisher of Jennifer Maiden's book-length essays The Cuckold and the Vampires: an essay on some aspects of conservative political manipulation of art and literature, including the experimental, and the conservatives' creation of conflict (2020), and The Laps of the Gods: Power, Sexuality, Publishing and Literature: an exploratory essay (2023).
List of her awards:
The ALS Gold Medal (2015), Victorian Prize for Literature (2014), The FAW Christopher Brennan Award, Three Kenneth Slessor Prizes for Poetry, Two C. J. Dennis Prizes for Poetry, The Melbourne Age Book of the Year, Two The Melbourne Age Poetry Book of the Year awards, The Harri Jones Memorial Prize, The H.M. Butterly-F.Earle Hooper Award (University of Sydney), The Grenfell Henry Lawson Festival Prize, Shortlisted for the Griffin International Poetry Prize.
Bibliography:
Poetry Collections:
Tactics. (UQP, 1974)
The Problem of Evil. (Prism, 1975)
The Occupying Forces. (Gargoyle, 1975)
Mortal Details. (Rigmarole, 1977)
Birthstones. (Angus & Robertson, 1978)
The Border Loss. (Angus & Robertson, 1979)
For The Left Hand. (South Head, 1981)
The Trust. (Black Lightning, 1988)
Bastille Day. (NLA, 1990)
Selected Poems of Jennifer Maiden. (Penguin, 1990)
The Winter Baby. (Angus & Robertson, 1990)
Acoustic Shadow. (Penguin, 1993)
Mines. (Paper Bark, 1999) ISBN 90-5704-046-8
Friendly Fire. (Giramondo, 2005) ISBN 1-920882-12-X
Pirate Rain. (Giramondo, 2009) ISBN 978-1-920882-59-4
Intimate Geography: Selected Poems 1991-2010. (Bloodaxe Books, 2012) ISBN 978-1-85224-926-7
Liquid Nitrogen. (Giramondo, 2012) ISBN 978-1-920882-99-0
The Violence of Waiting. (Vagabond Press, 2013)
Drones and Phantoms. (Giramondo, 2014) ISBN 978-1-922146-72-4
The Fox Petition. (Giramondo, 2015) ISBN 978-1-922146-94-6
The Metronome. (Electronic Edition: Quemar Press, 2016) ISBN 978-0-9954181-0-3 , (Print Edition: Giramondo, 2017) ISBN 978-1-925336-21-4 (pbk.)
Appalachian Fall: Poems About Poverty in Power. (Quemar Press, 2018) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-9954181-7-2, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-9954181-8-9
Selected Poems 1967-2018. (Quemar Press, 2018) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6482342-0-3, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6482342-1-0
brookings: the noun. (Quemar Press, 2019) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6482342-7-2, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6482342-8-9
The Espionage Act. (Quemar Press, 2020) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6485552-2-3, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6485552-3-0
Biological Necessity: New Poems (Quemar Press, 2021) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6485552-8-5, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6485552-9-2
Ox in Metal: New Poems (Quemar Press, 2022) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6451720-4-1, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6451720-5-8
Golden Bridge: New Poems (Quemar Press, 2023) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6451720-8-9, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6451720-9-6
The China Shelf: New Poems (Quemar Press, 2024) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6457126-5-0, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6457126-6-7
Novels:
The Terms. (Hale & Iremonger, 1982)
Play With Knives. (Allen & Unwin, 1990. New Revised Electronic Edition: Quemar Press, 2016)
Play With Knives: Two: Complicity. (Quemar Press, 2016)
Play With Knives: Three: George and Clare and the Grey Hat Hacker. (Quemar Press, 2016) ISBN 978-0-9954181-2-7
Play With Knives: Four: George and Clare, the Baby and the Bikies. (Quemar Press, 2017) ISBN 978-0-9954181-5-8
Play With Knives & Play With Knives: Two: Complicity. (Quemar Press, 2018) ISBN 978-0-9954181-9-6 (Paperback)
Play With Knives: Three: George and Clare and the Grey Hat Hacker & Play With Knives: Four: George and Clare, the Baby and the Bikies. (Quemar Press, 2018) ISBN 978-0-6482342-2-7
Play With Knives: Five: George and Clare, the Malachite and the Diamonds. (Quemar Press, 2018) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6482342-5-8, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6482342-6-5
Non-Fiction:
Workbook Questions: Writing of Torture, Trauma Experience (Written in collaboration with Margaret Bennett). (Quemar Press, 2019) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6485552-1-6
The Cuckold and the Vampires: an essay on some aspects of conservative political manipulation of art and literature, including the experimental, and the conservatives' creation of conflict. (Quemar Press, 2020) Print Edition ISBN 978-0-6485552-7-8, Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6485552-5-4
The Laps of the Gods: Power, Sexuality, Publishing and Literature: an exploratory essay (Quemar Press, 2023) Electronic Edition ISBN 978-0-6457126-1-2
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Marie de France
Marie de France is a twelfth century author and translator, considered to be the first female French poet. Her true name is unknown. The title Marie de France comes from a line of one of her works "Marie ai num, si sui de France" ("My name is Marie, and I am from France"). Passages from her work suggest she also lived in England. Scholars have suggested she was Marie, Abbess of Shaftesbury (Herny II’s half-sister), Marie I of Boulogne, Marie, Abbess of Barking, Marie de Meulan, or Marie, Abbess of Reading. She is the author of The Lais of Marie de France, a collection of twelve narrative-driven poems originating from Breton Lais. She is also thought to be the author of three other works. Quemar Press published new Modern English translations of her Romances Gugemer (in 2018), and Lanval (in 2019). Quemar will also publish a new translation of her Romance, Guildeluec and Guilliadon (aka Eliduc) in 2020.
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Bernat Metge
Born in Barcelona between 1340 and 1346, Bernat Metge was the son of Guillem Metge and his wife Agnes, who, when widowed, married Ferrer Sayol, chief clerk to the Queen Elionor (third wife of Pedro el Ceremonioso) and palace translator. Bernat perhaps received his education in the classics from his stepfather. In 1371, Bernat Metge was a court clerk to the Duke of Gerona, the future John I, having passed into his service after Queen Elionor’s death.
In 1388, he was imprisoned on charges of embezzlement but was released and rehabilitated.
in 1390, Metge advanced to the position of Royal Secretary to John I, and married Eulàlia Pormós (the daughter of a public official), with whom he had three daughters and a son.
In 1392-93, he was in Valencia. There he had a love affair with Violant Cardona, with whom he had a son, John, later legitimised. In 1395, the King trusted him with an ambassadorship near the pope, in Aviñón, where he met the master Fernández de Heredia. That year, he accompanied the King to Mallorca when the plague was declared in Barcelona.
After the sudden death of John I, the Queen Maria de Luna, wife of Martin I, acceded to power. Metge and other members of the Royal Council were accused of murdering King John and imprisoned in1397. Here, he wrote the satirical Medicina apropiada a tot mal and conceived his masterwork, Lo Sompni.
The work won him the favour of Marten I and he was released, becoming Chancellor of Marten’s Court from 1405 until Marten’s death in 1410. He eventually retired from palace circles.
Metge’s translations include Fournival and Petrarch, and his other works include the allegorical poem Llibre de Fortuna e Prudència (1381) and El Sermó feyt per en Bernat Metge. Lo Sompni reveals the influence of Dante and the Italian classics. In 2020, Quemar Press will publish a new, Modern English translation of Lo Sompni. The full Book One can be read on the Forthcoming page.
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In 1388, he was imprisoned on charges of embezzlement but was released and rehabilitated.
in 1390, Metge advanced to the position of Royal Secretary to John I, and married Eulàlia Pormós (the daughter of a public official), with whom he had three daughters and a son.
In 1392-93, he was in Valencia. There he had a love affair with Violant Cardona, with whom he had a son, John, later legitimised. In 1395, the King trusted him with an ambassadorship near the pope, in Aviñón, where he met the master Fernández de Heredia. That year, he accompanied the King to Mallorca when the plague was declared in Barcelona.
After the sudden death of John I, the Queen Maria de Luna, wife of Martin I, acceded to power. Metge and other members of the Royal Council were accused of murdering King John and imprisoned in1397. Here, he wrote the satirical Medicina apropiada a tot mal and conceived his masterwork, Lo Sompni.
The work won him the favour of Marten I and he was released, becoming Chancellor of Marten’s Court from 1405 until Marten’s death in 1410. He eventually retired from palace circles.
Metge’s translations include Fournival and Petrarch, and his other works include the allegorical poem Llibre de Fortuna e Prudència (1381) and El Sermó feyt per en Bernat Metge. Lo Sompni reveals the influence of Dante and the Italian classics. In 2020, Quemar Press will publish a new, Modern English translation of Lo Sompni. The full Book One can be read on the Forthcoming page.
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Michel de Montaigne
Montaigne was born in the Aquitaine region of France, on the family estate Château de Montaigne, in a town now called Saint-Michel-de-Montaigne, close to Bordeaux. The family was very wealthy; his great-grandfather, Ramon Felipe Eyquem, had made a fortune as a herring merchant and had bought the estate in 1477, thus becoming the Lord of Montaigne. His father, Pierre Eyquem, Seigneur of Montaigne, was a French Catholic soldier in Italy for a time and had also been the mayor of Bordeaux.
Around the year 1539, Montaigne was sent to study at a prestigious boarding school in Bordeaux, the Collège de Guyenne, then under the direction of the greatest Latin scholar of the era, George Buchanan. He then began his study of law at the University of Toulouse in 1546 and entered a career in the local legal system. He was a counselor of the Court des Aides of Périgueux and, in 1557, he was appointed counselor of the Parlement in Bordeaux (a high court). From 1561 to 1563 he was courtier at the court of Charles IX; he was present with the king at the siege of Rouen (1562). He was awarded the highest honour of the French nobility, the collar of the Order of St. Michael, something to which he aspired from his youth.
Montaigne wed Françoise de la Cassaigne in 1565. They had six daughters, but only the second-born survived childhood.
Montaigne started to work on the first translation of the Catalan monk Raymond Sebond's Theologia naturalis, which he published in 1568. After this, he inherited the family's estate, the Château de Montaigne, to which he moved back in 1570, thus becoming the Lord of Montaigne. Another literary accomplishment was Montaigne's posthumous edition of his friend Boétie's works
In 1571, he retired from public life to the Tower of the Château, his so-called "citadel", in the Dordogne, where he almost totally isolated himself from every social and family affair. Locked up in his library, which contained a collection of some 1,500 works, he began work on his Essais ("Essays"), first published in 1580. On the day of his 38th birthday, he entered this almost ten-year period of self-imposed reclusion.
While in the city of Lucca in 1581, he learned that he had been elected mayor of Bordeaux; he returned and served as mayor. He was re-elected in 1583 and served until 1585, again moderating between Catholics and Protestants. The plague broke out in Bordeaux toward the end of his second term in office, in 1585. In 1586, the plague and the Wars of Religion prompted him to leave his château for two years.
Montaigne continued to extend, revise, and oversee the publication of Essais. In 1588 he wrote its third book and also met the writer Marie de Gournay, who admired his work and later edited and published it.
Montaigne died of quinsy at the age of 59, in 1592 at the Château de Montaigne
He was buried nearby. Later his remains were moved to the church of Saint Antoine at Bordeaux. The church no longer exists: it became the Convent des Feuillants, which has also disappeared. The Bordeaux Tourist Office says that Montaigne is buried at the Musée Aquitaine, Faculté des Lettres, Université Bordeaux 3 Michel de Montaigne, Pessac.
(Adapted from Wikipedia, but the etching is by Freher, 1688)
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Around the year 1539, Montaigne was sent to study at a prestigious boarding school in Bordeaux, the Collège de Guyenne, then under the direction of the greatest Latin scholar of the era, George Buchanan. He then began his study of law at the University of Toulouse in 1546 and entered a career in the local legal system. He was a counselor of the Court des Aides of Périgueux and, in 1557, he was appointed counselor of the Parlement in Bordeaux (a high court). From 1561 to 1563 he was courtier at the court of Charles IX; he was present with the king at the siege of Rouen (1562). He was awarded the highest honour of the French nobility, the collar of the Order of St. Michael, something to which he aspired from his youth.
Montaigne wed Françoise de la Cassaigne in 1565. They had six daughters, but only the second-born survived childhood.
Montaigne started to work on the first translation of the Catalan monk Raymond Sebond's Theologia naturalis, which he published in 1568. After this, he inherited the family's estate, the Château de Montaigne, to which he moved back in 1570, thus becoming the Lord of Montaigne. Another literary accomplishment was Montaigne's posthumous edition of his friend Boétie's works
In 1571, he retired from public life to the Tower of the Château, his so-called "citadel", in the Dordogne, where he almost totally isolated himself from every social and family affair. Locked up in his library, which contained a collection of some 1,500 works, he began work on his Essais ("Essays"), first published in 1580. On the day of his 38th birthday, he entered this almost ten-year period of self-imposed reclusion.
While in the city of Lucca in 1581, he learned that he had been elected mayor of Bordeaux; he returned and served as mayor. He was re-elected in 1583 and served until 1585, again moderating between Catholics and Protestants. The plague broke out in Bordeaux toward the end of his second term in office, in 1585. In 1586, the plague and the Wars of Religion prompted him to leave his château for two years.
Montaigne continued to extend, revise, and oversee the publication of Essais. In 1588 he wrote its third book and also met the writer Marie de Gournay, who admired his work and later edited and published it.
Montaigne died of quinsy at the age of 59, in 1592 at the Château de Montaigne
He was buried nearby. Later his remains were moved to the church of Saint Antoine at Bordeaux. The church no longer exists: it became the Convent des Feuillants, which has also disappeared. The Bordeaux Tourist Office says that Montaigne is buried at the Musée Aquitaine, Faculté des Lettres, Université Bordeaux 3 Michel de Montaigne, Pessac.
(Adapted from Wikipedia, but the etching is by Freher, 1688)
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Katharine Margot Toohey
Katharine Margot Toohey holds a Bachelor of Arts (with Distinction) and the Dean's Medal for Academic Excellence from Western Sydney University.Her fields are Languages, Linguistics, Literature and Translation. She also has a Postgraduate Distinction in Adolescent Development and Teaching.
In 2016, she founded Quemar Press as a paperback and electronic publishing house with a focus on publishing new work and also preserving classic works which are little known in a non-specialist modern context, often works by women.
As Quemar's founder, she works as both publisher and translator of Quemar's titles to understand and preserve the texts' unique voices. She publishes, edits and writes introductions for Quemar Press titles. Quemar Press has now published 19 paperback titles and 24 ebooks, with 6 forthcoming titles.
She is the daughter of the acclaimed author Jennifer Maiden, and grateful to her for allowing Quemar to commence by publishing Maiden's work.
In 2017, Toohey compiled, translated into Modern English and photo-illustrated a collection of Montaigne's observations. Also in 2017, she translated into Modern English and photo-illustrated the medieval French chantefable, Aucassin and Nicolette. In 2018, she wrote and published a paperback on Surrealist artist Vera Rudner. In 2018, she also translated Marie de France's medieval Anglo-Norman French Romance Gugemer into Modern English. She published her translations of Aucassin and Nicolette and Gugemer (with a subjective essay on the translations) in a paperback entitled Once She Had Escaped the Tower. She translated Marie de France's Lanval from Anglo-Norman French to Modern English in 2019, and she translated Marie de France's Guildeluec and Guilliadon(a romance known as Eliduc) in 2020. In the same year, she published her translations of Lanval and Guildeluec and Guilliadon (also with a subjective essay) as the paperback All She Resolves to Rescue. In 2021, she translated Marie de France's The Ash Tree and Honeysuckle. Also in 2021, she translated letters between the 19th-century South American Revolution leaders Manuela Saenz and Simon Bolivar, and their letters about each other and published them as the paperback Meeting Each Other Alive. In 2022, she translated Marie de France's Bisclavret and also published her translations of The Ash Tree and Honeysuckle (with a further subjective essay) as the paperback Then She Endures Like the Tree. She translated The Beauty and the Beast (Parts One and Two of La Belle et la Bête) by Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve in 2023. Also in 2023, she translated Marie de France's Milun, and compiled and translated a collection of medieval Asian women writers, Shining Moon. Later in 2023, she published her translations of Bisclavret and Milun (with a new subjective essay) as the paperback The Animal Let Live. Currently, she is translating Louise Michel, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz and Bernat Metge.
Among her other interests is photography, and her photographs have appeared on Quemar Press' website and in Quemar's publications, and have been used by Bloodaxe Books, The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, The Australian, The Griffin Poetry Prize, The Festival of Sydney, The Queensland Poetry Festival, Poetry International, Vagabond Press, Giramondo Publishing, Plumwood Mountain, and The Rose Scott Women's Writers' Festival.
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In 2016, she founded Quemar Press as a paperback and electronic publishing house with a focus on publishing new work and also preserving classic works which are little known in a non-specialist modern context, often works by women.
As Quemar's founder, she works as both publisher and translator of Quemar's titles to understand and preserve the texts' unique voices. She publishes, edits and writes introductions for Quemar Press titles. Quemar Press has now published 19 paperback titles and 24 ebooks, with 6 forthcoming titles.
She is the daughter of the acclaimed author Jennifer Maiden, and grateful to her for allowing Quemar to commence by publishing Maiden's work.
In 2017, Toohey compiled, translated into Modern English and photo-illustrated a collection of Montaigne's observations. Also in 2017, she translated into Modern English and photo-illustrated the medieval French chantefable, Aucassin and Nicolette. In 2018, she wrote and published a paperback on Surrealist artist Vera Rudner. In 2018, she also translated Marie de France's medieval Anglo-Norman French Romance Gugemer into Modern English. She published her translations of Aucassin and Nicolette and Gugemer (with a subjective essay on the translations) in a paperback entitled Once She Had Escaped the Tower. She translated Marie de France's Lanval from Anglo-Norman French to Modern English in 2019, and she translated Marie de France's Guildeluec and Guilliadon(a romance known as Eliduc) in 2020. In the same year, she published her translations of Lanval and Guildeluec and Guilliadon (also with a subjective essay) as the paperback All She Resolves to Rescue. In 2021, she translated Marie de France's The Ash Tree and Honeysuckle. Also in 2021, she translated letters between the 19th-century South American Revolution leaders Manuela Saenz and Simon Bolivar, and their letters about each other and published them as the paperback Meeting Each Other Alive. In 2022, she translated Marie de France's Bisclavret and also published her translations of The Ash Tree and Honeysuckle (with a further subjective essay) as the paperback Then She Endures Like the Tree. She translated The Beauty and the Beast (Parts One and Two of La Belle et la Bête) by Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve in 2023. Also in 2023, she translated Marie de France's Milun, and compiled and translated a collection of medieval Asian women writers, Shining Moon. Later in 2023, she published her translations of Bisclavret and Milun (with a new subjective essay) as the paperback The Animal Let Live. Currently, she is translating Louise Michel, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz and Bernat Metge.
Among her other interests is photography, and her photographs have appeared on Quemar Press' website and in Quemar's publications, and have been used by Bloodaxe Books, The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, The Australian, The Griffin Poetry Prize, The Festival of Sydney, The Queensland Poetry Festival, Poetry International, Vagabond Press, Giramondo Publishing, Plumwood Mountain, and The Rose Scott Women's Writers' Festival.
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Unknown Author/s of Aucassin and Nicolette
The only extant manuscript of the Medieval French Chantefable Aucassin and Nicolette was found in 1752. The author may have lived during the reign of Louis VII (1137-1180), rather than under that of Philipe-Auguste (1180-1223), because of the archaic tempo of the sections in verse and the assonances. On the other hand, the author could have lived in the 13th century, as these assonances still remained then. The mention of droit de lagan - right of a lord to maritime salvage in his domain - might date the text to before 1191, when that law was abolished, but the law was still practised after that. Most scholars assume a single author but there may be variations of tone and emphasis in the text which could indicate a combination of narrators or sources. Some of the diction suggests that the author was from Hainaut, or from a region east of Picardie. In light of contemporary literature by Marie de France, it might be possible to consider some female authorship. This idea may be supported by the focus on Nicolette, her circumstances and her psychology in the text.
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Margaret Bennett
Margaret Bennett is a consultant to trauma organisations, managers and their staff. She is a social work clinician, academic and researcher, who brings a human rights perspective to helping the traumatised trauma worker. She has worked with trauma workers in Australia and the Asia-Pacific, and provided training and evaluation services in the UK, Europe, Nepal, Indonesia, Aceh, East Timor, New Zealand, Georgia (Russia) and Sri Lanka. She has worked in a wide range of trauma settings - torture and trauma (including ten years as Director of the first torture and trauma service in Australia - STARTTS, NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors), refugee settings, rape and domestic violence services, cancer education and support, missing persons, and both generalist and veteran-specific mental health services. Margaret is the author of Thrive Beyond Traumas: a guide for trauma workers and their managers (Omne Publisher, 2015). She is a Churchill Fellow.
She collaborated with Jennifer Maiden (the former Writer in Residence at STARTTS) to create a workbook for Quemar Press, designed to help survivors of trauma or torture to write about their experiences. The workbook Workbook Questions: Writing of Torture, Trauma Experience was published by Quemar in 2019.
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She collaborated with Jennifer Maiden (the former Writer in Residence at STARTTS) to create a workbook for Quemar Press, designed to help survivors of trauma or torture to write about their experiences. The workbook Workbook Questions: Writing of Torture, Trauma Experience was published by Quemar in 2019.
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Manuela Sáenz
Manuela Sáenz Aizpuru was born in Quito in 1797. As a child, she learned at the 'Convento de las Monjas Conceptas (Real Monasterio de la Limpia e Inmaculada Concepción)', and at the house of her stepmother, who showed great affection for her and encouraged her enjoyment of reading. Sáenz learned Languages (English and French), embroidery and confectionery at the 'Monasterio de Santa Catalina de Siena (Quito), de la Orden de Santo Domingo' - knowledge she would later use to make an income after she was exiled.
Her father arranged her marriage to an older English doctor, James Thorne in 1817. Sáenz and Thorne moved to Lima (Peru) in 1819.
In the 1819 political climate, Simón Bolívar was active in New Granada's liberation, and, in 1820, Manuela Sáenz joined the covert political operations against Peru's viceroy, José de la Serna e Hinojosa.
The South American revolution surrounded her early life. In 1821, her half brother was an officer in the Numancia battalion, now part of the liberating army. In that year she travelled with him.
Sáenz became estranged from Thorne, and left in 1822 for Quito. That year, she became acquainted with Bolívar, as he officially took over Peru's liberation. They would meet often as the revolutionary campaigns travelled South America. They would also correspond, exchange love letters, practical military advice, and advice about practical survival.
In 1823, Bolívar, in his role as General, wished her to be part of his military staff. She agreed and became his archivist, journeying with him and the armies.
She rescued Bolívar in September 1828, intervening in an attempt on his life in Bogotá and giving him time to escape through a window. Afterwards, he would refer to her as 'the liberator's liberator'. He often remarked on her successes in subduing mutinies.
Her work was recognised by Peru when she was awarded the Order of the Sun.
Bolívar died when he was leaving Bogotá in 1830. Francisco de Paula Santander retook power and exiled Sáenz in 1834. She voyaged to Jamaica. Then she returned to Ecuador in 1835, but was unable to return to Quito as her passport was revoked by the President, Vicente Rocafuerte. She continued to the North of Peru, where she decided to live in Paita, on the coast. It has been reported that she lived with two women who were freed slaves from her stepmother's house, and with whom she had a close friendship from childhood. She interacted with other revolutionary figures, such as Garibaldi, and Simón Rodríguez (Bolívar's tutor and mentor), and supported herself financially by working as a translator, amanuensis, tobacco merchant, confectioner and embroiderer. She died from an infectious fever in November 1856. She had once written to Bolívar: 'usted bien sabe de mi presencia en cuerpo y alma a su lado ('you know well my presence in body and soul at your side').
In 2021, Quemar Press published Meeting Each Other Alive, our new English translations of letters that she and Bolívar exchanged, and of letters they wrote to others about each other.
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Her father arranged her marriage to an older English doctor, James Thorne in 1817. Sáenz and Thorne moved to Lima (Peru) in 1819.
In the 1819 political climate, Simón Bolívar was active in New Granada's liberation, and, in 1820, Manuela Sáenz joined the covert political operations against Peru's viceroy, José de la Serna e Hinojosa.
The South American revolution surrounded her early life. In 1821, her half brother was an officer in the Numancia battalion, now part of the liberating army. In that year she travelled with him.
Sáenz became estranged from Thorne, and left in 1822 for Quito. That year, she became acquainted with Bolívar, as he officially took over Peru's liberation. They would meet often as the revolutionary campaigns travelled South America. They would also correspond, exchange love letters, practical military advice, and advice about practical survival.
In 1823, Bolívar, in his role as General, wished her to be part of his military staff. She agreed and became his archivist, journeying with him and the armies.
She rescued Bolívar in September 1828, intervening in an attempt on his life in Bogotá and giving him time to escape through a window. Afterwards, he would refer to her as 'the liberator's liberator'. He often remarked on her successes in subduing mutinies.
Her work was recognised by Peru when she was awarded the Order of the Sun.
Bolívar died when he was leaving Bogotá in 1830. Francisco de Paula Santander retook power and exiled Sáenz in 1834. She voyaged to Jamaica. Then she returned to Ecuador in 1835, but was unable to return to Quito as her passport was revoked by the President, Vicente Rocafuerte. She continued to the North of Peru, where she decided to live in Paita, on the coast. It has been reported that she lived with two women who were freed slaves from her stepmother's house, and with whom she had a close friendship from childhood. She interacted with other revolutionary figures, such as Garibaldi, and Simón Rodríguez (Bolívar's tutor and mentor), and supported herself financially by working as a translator, amanuensis, tobacco merchant, confectioner and embroiderer. She died from an infectious fever in November 1856. She had once written to Bolívar: 'usted bien sabe de mi presencia en cuerpo y alma a su lado ('you know well my presence in body and soul at your side').
In 2021, Quemar Press published Meeting Each Other Alive, our new English translations of letters that she and Bolívar exchanged, and of letters they wrote to others about each other.
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Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar was born on the 24th July, 1783 in Caracas, Venezuela (what was then part of New Granada and is now Venezuela). As a young child, he learned 18th century liberal philosophy with Simón Rodríguez, a follower of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Bolívar left to finish his studies in Europe when he was sixteen. He remained in Spain for three years, marrying a women whose father was Spanish nobility. He brought her home to Caracas, but she died of yellow fever within a year. Bolívar was guided by Rodríguez to read the works of Rationalist writers when in Paris, and is said to have been the most influenced by Montesquieu, Rousseau and Voltaire.
Returning to Venezuela, he took part in covert political revolutionary meetings. In April 1810, the Spanish governor was exiled. When a national congress drafted a constitution in Caracas in 1811, Bolívar gave his first public political speech, and joined the republic's army.
After an armistice left the country vulnerable to Spain, Bolívar published El manifiesto de Cartagena, in which he hoped that united revolutionary forces could remedy Spain's control. Bolívar regained Venezuela, entering Caracas on August 6 1813 after six battles. Now he had the support of New Granada patriots. Following a civil war, and defeat by the Spanish, Bolívar travelled to New Granada, and was commissioned to overthrow a group of separatists from Bogotá. He achieved that, but was unable to unite revolutionary forces in Cartagena and left for Jamaica. He wrote The Letter from Jamaica, highlighting his concepts of constitutional republics in Latin America and of a British-style government in the former Viceroyalty of New Granada, with a lower house to be elected, a hereditary upper house, and a life-term elected president.
When the United States and Great Britain would not send aid to the Revolutionary forces, Bolívar approached Haiti - which had liberated itself from French control. Haiti welcomed him and gave financial support and arms. Bolívar created headquarters in the region of Orinoco River in 1817, and created a great plan to overthrow the Viceroyalty of New Granada.
Not expecting Bolívar's forces to attempt a trek through flooded plains and an ascent into the Andes, a large part of the royalist army surrendered in the Battle of Boyacá on the 7th August, 1819. Bolívar was given the title of military dictator and president. The Republic of Colombia was created, encompassing the departments of New Granada (now Panama and Colombia), Quito (Ecuador), and Venezuela. Bolívar's country, Venezuela, was liberated in June 1821 with the Battle of Carabobo. Working in battle strategy with his officer, Antonio José de Sucre, Bolívar liberated Ecuador in May 1822. In Quito he became acquainted with Manuela Sáenz. They would meet as the revolutionary forces traversed South America, exchanging strategy and love letters. She became a member of his Military General Staff, and his Archivist.
With Peru and Upper Peru still under some Spanish control, Bolívar met with José de San Martín, the Argentine revolutionary, at their Guayaquil Conference in Ecuador. Here, Bolívar took over the effort to liberate Peru. Bolívar worked with Sucre, and created an army to counteract the unassailable Spanish position in the Peruvian mountains. The Spanish viceroy surrendered on December 9, 1824. Sucre liberated Upper Peru in April 1825.
Bolívar now had the title of president of Gran Colombia and dictator of Peru. The newly created country would be known as Bolivia. In light of his earlier ideas, Bolívar created a constitution with a three chamber legislative body and a life-term president. His wish to build a league of Hispanic American states led to a congress in Panama, envisaging a common navy and army, planning an assembly to represent the states, and with the idea of a situation in which states' controversies were remedied by arbitration.
A civil war began between New Granada and Venezuela. On September 25th, 1828, at the presidential palace, conspirators attempted to assassinate Bolívar. Manuela Sáenz intervened, warned him, and gave him an opportunity to escape by a window.
In 1829, Venezuela separated from Gran Colombia. Bolívar voyaged from Bogotá on the 8th of May, 1830. It is reported that he died of either tuberculosis or complications from an electrolyte imbalance in 1830. The title he wished for himself was 'Liberator', something he is said to have held higher than any regal honorific. He also wished it for Manuela Sáenz - his beloved companion and often his rescuer - addressing her as 'the Liberator's Liberator'.
In 2021, Quemar Press published Meeting Each Other Alive, our new English translations of letters that he and Sáenz exchanged, and of letters they wrote to others about each other.
Returning to Venezuela, he took part in covert political revolutionary meetings. In April 1810, the Spanish governor was exiled. When a national congress drafted a constitution in Caracas in 1811, Bolívar gave his first public political speech, and joined the republic's army.
After an armistice left the country vulnerable to Spain, Bolívar published El manifiesto de Cartagena, in which he hoped that united revolutionary forces could remedy Spain's control. Bolívar regained Venezuela, entering Caracas on August 6 1813 after six battles. Now he had the support of New Granada patriots. Following a civil war, and defeat by the Spanish, Bolívar travelled to New Granada, and was commissioned to overthrow a group of separatists from Bogotá. He achieved that, but was unable to unite revolutionary forces in Cartagena and left for Jamaica. He wrote The Letter from Jamaica, highlighting his concepts of constitutional republics in Latin America and of a British-style government in the former Viceroyalty of New Granada, with a lower house to be elected, a hereditary upper house, and a life-term elected president.
When the United States and Great Britain would not send aid to the Revolutionary forces, Bolívar approached Haiti - which had liberated itself from French control. Haiti welcomed him and gave financial support and arms. Bolívar created headquarters in the region of Orinoco River in 1817, and created a great plan to overthrow the Viceroyalty of New Granada.
Not expecting Bolívar's forces to attempt a trek through flooded plains and an ascent into the Andes, a large part of the royalist army surrendered in the Battle of Boyacá on the 7th August, 1819. Bolívar was given the title of military dictator and president. The Republic of Colombia was created, encompassing the departments of New Granada (now Panama and Colombia), Quito (Ecuador), and Venezuela. Bolívar's country, Venezuela, was liberated in June 1821 with the Battle of Carabobo. Working in battle strategy with his officer, Antonio José de Sucre, Bolívar liberated Ecuador in May 1822. In Quito he became acquainted with Manuela Sáenz. They would meet as the revolutionary forces traversed South America, exchanging strategy and love letters. She became a member of his Military General Staff, and his Archivist.
With Peru and Upper Peru still under some Spanish control, Bolívar met with José de San Martín, the Argentine revolutionary, at their Guayaquil Conference in Ecuador. Here, Bolívar took over the effort to liberate Peru. Bolívar worked with Sucre, and created an army to counteract the unassailable Spanish position in the Peruvian mountains. The Spanish viceroy surrendered on December 9, 1824. Sucre liberated Upper Peru in April 1825.
Bolívar now had the title of president of Gran Colombia and dictator of Peru. The newly created country would be known as Bolivia. In light of his earlier ideas, Bolívar created a constitution with a three chamber legislative body and a life-term president. His wish to build a league of Hispanic American states led to a congress in Panama, envisaging a common navy and army, planning an assembly to represent the states, and with the idea of a situation in which states' controversies were remedied by arbitration.
A civil war began between New Granada and Venezuela. On September 25th, 1828, at the presidential palace, conspirators attempted to assassinate Bolívar. Manuela Sáenz intervened, warned him, and gave him an opportunity to escape by a window.
In 1829, Venezuela separated from Gran Colombia. Bolívar voyaged from Bogotá on the 8th of May, 1830. It is reported that he died of either tuberculosis or complications from an electrolyte imbalance in 1830. The title he wished for himself was 'Liberator', something he is said to have held higher than any regal honorific. He also wished it for Manuela Sáenz - his beloved companion and often his rescuer - addressing her as 'the Liberator's Liberator'.
In 2021, Quemar Press published Meeting Each Other Alive, our new English translations of letters that he and Sáenz exchanged, and of letters they wrote to others about each other.
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