Former Goulburn resident, Jackie Pearson (nee Lacey), will return to her hometown on April 1 to conduct a writing workshop at Goulburn Mulwaree Library and launch her first collection of poetry.
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Pearson said she had always loved poetry and could still recite the first poem she wrote when she was about six years old.
"By the time I was 12 I'd realised most acclaimed poets were either dead or poor. I started thinking about how I could write and make a living and that's when I decided I wanted to be a journalist," Ms Pearson said.
"I remember my Uncle Don Pennay used to encourage me to read The Bulletin and Time magazines from when I was about 13 and the old National Times newspaper.
"Doing work experience at the Goulburn Post when I was in Year 10 way back in 1982 was such a thrill and then I worked there during semester breaks while I was studying journalism in Bathurst. I loved following the older journalists around. They were still working on typewriters in those days."
Pearson said she had been "truly blessed" to have spent the past 36 years working as a journalist including holding senior editorial positions at Choice Magazine and contributing to the Australian Financial Review Smart Investor magazine for over a decade.
"I remember having to pinch myself sometimes when I was interviewing a senior banker or attending a boardroom lunch at some major company's head office. I was often the only small-town girl in the room, so I have always been proud of my roots," she said.
Her library workshop on April 1 is titled 'Words can change the world.'
"My working life is proof that public interest journalism can have positive impacts on society, and I will always believe that. My work at Choice included ground-breaking investigations of financial advice that resulted in laws being changed and regulations improved," she said.
"Now I am the publisher of an independent digital news site.
"It mainly reports on local issues on the NSW Central Coast, which is where I live, and our reports hold to account local, state and federal politicians for the decisions they make that have an impact on the environment and on social justice.
"The first half of the workshop will cover how you can be a citizen journalist or blogger and make a difference in your community," she said.
The second half of the workshop will be about poetry.
It took the pandemic for Jackie to find enough downtime to pull together her first collection of poetry, Mother's Song, published by Jinninderra Press.
"Poetry can be a powerful tool for impacting individuals and communities, just like journalism, and the workshop will explore how to use poetry to move and activate others."
The poems in Mother's Song cover a 20-year period from 2000 to 2020 and are about "what it is like to be a Generation-X woman, family, nature and politics.
"It's an eclectic mixture of themes," she said.
"I can't wait to meet up with Goulburn's activist writers and poets to share my experiences and workshop some of their stories and poems."
Following the workshop at the library, Jackie will launch Mother's Song at the Goulburn Club at 3.30pm.
"The collection includes poems about my great grandparents' home in West Goulburn and about ANZAC Day in Goulburn so it seemed appropriate to celebrate the launch in Goulburn," she said.
"It has been a tough few years and none of us is getting any younger so I am hoping to catch up with family and friends and celebrate the gift of poetry."
Registrations are open for the free workshop: https://events.humanitix.com/pearson
Pearson has welcomed the community to attend the book launch: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1023732
