KARENLOWRY

TRAUMA AND SCIENCE FICTION

SUBURBIA AND ELECTRONIC LITERATURE

DR. KAREN LOWRY

Digital poet, academic, writer, teacher.

Dr. Karen Lowry is a lecturer at SAE Institute in Perth where she teaches motion graphics and web design. She has a PhD in digital poetry from Curtin University and was the recipient of the Australian Postgraduate Award and Curtin research scholarship. Karen co-directed the inaugural 2017 Literary Youth Festival in Perth, which was held as part of Propel Youth Arts' KickstART Festival. In 2012 and 2013, she coordinated the WA Poetry Festival for WA Poets Inc, also serving 2 years as co-chair. In 2017 she collaborated with author, David Wright, to create a digital interface for his novella Paige & Powe, which was shortlisted for the 2017 Queensland Literary Awards. Karen was also a top 20 Finalist in the AMPlify Festival’s Bright Sparks PhD Pitching competition in 2015 and was highly commended in the 2013 Poetry d'Amour Love Poetry Competition for "Hinge".

SKILLS

Writing, web design, motion graphics, photography, arts management, public speaking, teaching

PROGRAMMING

NodeJS, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, React.JS, PHP, IOS and Android App Development, Agile Project Management, Facebook Developer, and Google API

ADOBE CREATIVE SUITE

InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Animate and Dreamweaver

OTHER SOFTWARE

Pro Tools, Microsoft Office Suite, Unity 3D, GameMaker, UnReal Engine

GENRES

Poetry, science fiction, speculative fiction, academic writing and journalism

SCIENCE FICTION

"For me, the science fiction label belongs on books with things in them that we can't yet do... speculative fiction means a work that employs the means already to hand and that takes place on Planet Earth."

Margaret Atwood

The Black Swan Experiments (working title).

A woman is the only survivor of a nuclear attack on her city, and no one knows why. While she is mourning the loss of her family, friends, home and everything familiar, the government is trying to work out how she survived and how they can use her.

My first novel is a work in progress. I wrote the first draft for NaNoWriMo 2017 and am now in the process of editing it. Learn more about this journey on my blog.

ELECTRONIC LITERATURE

David Wright's "Paige & Powe", was Highly Commended in Seizure's Viva La Novella IV competition and was published in Alt Text. I worked with David to create an interactive digital interface for the novella which was shortlisted for the 2017 QUT Digital Literature Award. Illustrations are by Julia Lane. Cover image by Irit Pollak.

"Text Message Generator" is a chatbot commissioned for the 2016 Noted Festival. The bot responds to user input and is designed to replicate a conversation. Using poetic devices, such as metaphor, it answers questions about myself, while prompting the user to talk more about themselves.

In "Chamberlain Street" the reader helps the narrator investigate an accident accident caused by one of the neighbours. The narrator, worried the police aren’t doing enough to catch the perpetrator, starts her own investigation which leads the reader into the hidden lives behind the white picket fences and fancy cars.

Unsure of what to do for your Father or Grandfather for Father's day? Have you left it to the last minute to get him a present or a card? Send him the DIY Father's day card and make him do all the work!

"I think digital truly is the future of poetry. Most people get their news, entertainment and even jobs via digital devices, so it's only logical for poetry and art to do the same."

Jason Nelson during an interview with ABC News

POETRY

"Well, write poetry, for God's sake, it's the only thing that matters.'"

e.e. cummings

Flat wine and Tequila. Snap Journal 2016.

Solar Power. In Capes, A & Linford, B. (Eds.), Poetry and Place Anthology 2015.

Past Lover. Recoil 7. Perth, Western Australia: Mulla Mulla Press.

Ex-Boyfriend. Incisors and Grinders 2015: Idenity. Melbourne, Victoria: Monash Creative Writers.

Sixty Years. In Sharkey, M. (Ed.), Australian Poetry Journal 5(1). Melbourne, Victoria: Australian Poetry Ltd. 2015.

Mr Harwood. In, Lateef, A. (Ed.), WRIT Poetry Review 2. Perth, Western Australia. 2015.

6 months after my friend hangs himself. Poetry d’Amour 2014: Love Poems for Valentine’s Day. Perth, Western Australia: WA Poets Inc. 2014

Hinge. In Haskell, D. (Ed.), Poetry d’Amour 2013: Love Poems for Valentine’s Day. Perth, Western Australia: WA Poets Inc. 2013. (Highly Commended)

FEEDBACK ON "TEXT MESSAGE GENERATOR"

TESTIMONIALS

DENNIS HASKELL

Poetry d’Amour 2013: Love poems on Valentine’s Day

One of the difficult aspects of love to represent – in film, paint, dance, words or any other medium – is sexual experience, but “Hinge” by Karen Murphy does so in a mature way, working with detailed sexual movement and a grasping use of line breaks. The poem captures both female and male movement until the point of orgasm. The Key to success in such a poem lies in the detail and in getting the tone right; here there is no sensationalising or moralising, but the depiction of a human experience that seems simultaneously gentle and violent and entirely natural.

SCOTT-PATRICK MITCHELL

Social Media Gun for WA Poets Inc

Her work was raw, honest and deeply emotional, a three part insight into the creation of Lowry’s upcoming interactive digital poetry game.

DAVID BARNES

Founder of Numbat Poetry Journal

Karen is a consistent student of poetry; her work shows shows a clear insight to the workings of the written word. Karen writes with energy and is not afraid of critic. She is always open to new approaches in the use of the English language. I believe she would be a benefit to other poets and/or students of the written word. I would recommend her any day, in any adventure.