Writing

I am grateful for the opportunities to share my writing through publication of articles and books. I love hearing from readers and would encourage you to get in touch with me here or through my social media pages.

Unseen
A book written in 2020 about the experience of illness - namely unseen chronic illness. I have had Crohn’s disease for over 20 years and the book explores the complexity of illness in Australia, through the frame of lived experience. The book has been discussed at numerous writer’s festivals and libraries and continues to inspire broader conversations about chronic illness and disability.

The book was loved into life and published by Affirm Press – you can buy it here.
A Question of Age
A book written about the questions I have on the nature of ageing as a woman in a white, western context. It seeks to wonder about how we might go about ageing with our eyes open to the impact that society has had on our perspectives of getting old. How might we rail against the dominant ideas that ageing is something to be feared?

The book was loved into life and published by Catherine Milne at Harper Collins & ABC Books – you can buy it here.

Articles

I have written articles for a number of publications over the past fifteen years. Much of my writing is about the human condition and focusses on questions of being. Included here is a selection of recent articles.

June 13, 2023
‘I couldn’t go on the way I was’: ABC radio host lays bare battle with chronic illness
She’s the ABC radio host who is adept at drawing out others’ stories ...
June 5, 2023
Jacinta Parsons: ‘How I learned to embrace solitude’
I have always been fascinated by the people who find themselves on long lonely… ...
February 19, 2023
‘We’re reclaiming space as older women – and we’re a powerful group’
There are two stories going on,” Parsons says. “One is the superficial, overt feeling… ...
October 14, 2022
What to read: ABC presenter’s moving look at ageing and a sweeping memoir
ABC presenter Jacinta Parsons is by turns poetic, angry, and circumspectly detached in delivering… ...
April 22, 2021
Dealing with the shock of getting older
Recently I was at a bar and started a great conversation with a stranger. ...
October 5, 2020
How chronic illness affected Jacinta’s relationships
Illness can take you away from the regular beat of the life you once… ...
October 2, 2020
Non-fiction: Jacinta Parsons and her struggle with chronic illness
This is just placeholder text. Once we have your content finalized, we’ll replace this… ...
September 29, 2020
Pandemic has highlighted just how fragile we always were
What immediately became apparent as the pandemic hit was that this virus, and the… ...
September 27, 2020
Unseen: Jacinta Parsons on chronic illness & losing her body
In her new memoir Unseen Jacinta Parsons describes being suspended between her body that… ...
September 25, 2020
Jacinta Parsons on living with chronic illness: ‘I couldn’t feel my body properly’
As a child, she associated illness with shame. ...
August 20, 2020
Boy’s death in Fitzroy North public housing fire raises safety concerns
A woman's screams a block away broke a quiet Melbourne afternoon in lockdown. ...
June 12, 2019
Illness can morph you without your consent
When I was first diagnosed, I was told that Crohn’s disease was chronic. ...