Jakob Ziguras was born in Poland in 1977, to Polish and Greek parents, and came to Australia in 1984. He studied fine arts before switching to philosophy, in which he completed a doctorate at the University of Sydney. His poetry has appeared in journals both in Australia and internationally. His debut collection, Chains of Snow (Sydney: Pitt Street Poetry, 2013) was shortlisted for the 2014 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. His second book, The Sepia Carousel, will be published (by Pitt Street Poetry) in December, 2016. He won the 2013 David Harold Tribe Poetry Award and the 2011 Harri Jones Memorial Prize, as well as gaining 2nd place in the 2014 Newcastle Poetry Prize and 3rd place in the 2015 Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize. His poetry has appeared in a number of anthologies, including: Contemporary Australian Poetry (Sydney: Puncher & Wattmann, 2016), The Best Australian Poems (Melbourne: Black Inc. 2014, 2015) and Incroci di poesia contemporanea 2010-2015 (Mestre: Amos Edizioni, 2015). In 2016, he was awarded a place at the Château de Lavigny International Writers Residency and will spend January, 2017 on a writing fellowship at Hawthornden Castle. For the past two years, he has lived in his birthplace, Wrocław, where he is at work on his third book, Venetian Mirrors, and translating various contemporary Polish poets.

Jakob is a poet commissioned for the Rhyming The Dead Radio Series.

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Audio

3. Chalk is Falling - Rhyming The Dead - Jakob Ziguras & Bella Li

Jakob Ziguras reads 'Snow Like Wool, Frost Like Ashes'