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2015 MELITA HUME POETRY PRIZE SHORTLIST FOCUS: JEN CALLEJA

SHE ALSO PLAYS IN THE BAND SAUNA YOUTH
Jen Calleja (pictured) was born in Shoreham-By-Sea, West Sussex, and lives in London. She is a writer, literary translator from German, reviewer and editor of Anglo-German arts journal Verfreundungseffekt.

Her short fiction and poetry have been published by The Quietus and Structo, in many independent publications, as well as released on record and played on BBC radio. She was runner-up finalist of Brighton Festival's inaugural Peacock Poetry Prize in 2011. She also plays in the bands Sauna Youth, Feature and Monotony. This poem is from her short-listed collection.


extract from she is that which I are
I come to an isolated factory. Disused, with a distorted structure. I remembered night shifts stirring, stirring, making checks and kicking back for naps. I’d eat – from the pots with a long spoon – the melting components. I couldn’t afford the canteen lunch. It was a story my friend enjoyed telling, the way only he can. It popped up in a graphic novel, green and brown and grey, and though I never felt that way, it really is what happened. The story became a screenplay, then came the movie with a slew of reviews which shared the same specific line misquoted, that became a rally slogan, or nothing at all.


poem copyright the author, 2015

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