Biography
Jessica Mookherjee is a poet of Bengali heritage. She was brought up in Mumbles, Wales. She lived most of her adult life in London. She has lived in Tunbridge Wells for the last 10 years. She has been published in many print and online journals including Agenda, Interpreter’s House, The North, Rialto, Under the Radar, Magma and Antiphon.
Her first pamphlet “Swell” was published by TellTale Press in 2016, JoyRide was published by Black Light Engine Room Press in 2017. Her poems appear in various anthologies including Eyewear’s Best of British and Irish Poets 2017 , Paper Swans’ Chronicles of Eve, Bloody Amazing: 123 taboo smashing poems (Dragon Yaffle) 2020, The Emma Press’s Everything that can Happen 2019 and Candlestick Press’s Spring an Christmas ‘instead of a card’ series in 2020. Her Forward Prize highly commended poem; Ursa Minor appears in the Bloodaxe Anthology ‘Staying Human’ (2020).
Her poem Ursa Minor was ‘highly commended’ for best single poem in Forward Prize 2017. Her first full collection, Flood, was published in 2018 by Cultured Llama. Her second collection, Tigress was published in 2019 by Nine Arches Press. She has a new pamphlet published in 2021, Play Lists ( Broken Sleep Books). Her third full collection will be published with Nine Arches Press in 2022/23. Her fourth pamphlet; a long poem about London called Desire Lines will in published by Broken Sleep Books in 2022/23. She has been highly commended again for the Forward Prize 2020 best single poem for Skylarker. This poem was first published in Finished Creatures and will appear in her long poem; Desire Lines.
Jessica has read and spoken at a number of poetry and literature festivals, notably Birmingham Literature Festival, Tunbridge Wells Poetry Festival and Hastings Lit Fest in 2021.
Jessica has worked for over 20 years in public health and has an academic background in biological anthropology and psychology. Jessica is a board member of the Poetry Society Co-Editor of Against the Grain Poetry Press alongside : Abegail Morley and Karen Dennison. She is Secretary of Kent and Sussex Poetry Society.
Jessica’s work concerns themes of migration, myth, motherhood, womanhood and desire, the impact of intergenerational trauma and fractured identities and self creation.
To contact, commission and/or book Jessica for anything poetry/ literature related please use the contact page on this site and for anything related to Against the Grain Publishing; use the link below:
