Vale Jen Hutchison

‘Jen was frankly nothing short of remarkable.

‘When her son Raif died 10 years ago, she decided to walk the ancient pathways of the Camino de Santiago across northern Spain (800kms) with his ashes, journaling along the way, without fail, every foot-throbbing weary night. After 35 days of trekking, she returned home, and wrote Motherling, a poignant, brave memoir of that life-saving walk and her growing adjustment to life without Raif.

‘As someone who was always writing, be it letters, journals, board papers, grant submissions or taking classes, Jen created Journeys to Words as a WordPress blog back in 2014, and her anecdotal observations and life lessons soon garnered heartfelt interest and a loyal readership. As a mature age writer herself, she soon realised that, as an age group, they were overlooked by the traditional publishing industry and needed a platform and representation. So, naturally, at the age of 67, Jen filled that gap and became a publisher, to bring their writing to the market! JTWP officially launched in May 2019 at the State Library of Victoria and went on to publish seven books before the world ground to an abrupt halt with pandemic lockdowns.

‘A sharp editor and writing mentor to so many, Jen ran writers’ retreats and masterclass workshops to arm her writers with the techniques publishers expect to see in submission ready manuscripts. Her legacy lives on in all of us whose lives she touched, and we learned from her in myriad ways. It is fitting that Suzanne Frankham’s debut crime novel, Shadow Over Edmund Street, published by Jen, has just been shortlisted for two debut book awards.’