academics
MA in English & Creative Writing at Concordia University, 2015 - 2018
Coordinator at the Centre for Expanded Poetics, Concordia University (Sept 2015 - present)
Research Assistant position under Dr. Nathan Brown
Coordinating programming, including inter-departmental collaborations; operating small-press book printing & archiving projects; co-organizing the Occult Poetics Symposium (Winter 2017), and facilitating events and visiting speakers
Operating the Centre 2-3 days per week; facilitating students use of the space, equipment, and library; initiating artistic and academic collaborations
During the 2016-17 academic year, I will be in charge of founding a publishing press which prints all work produced through the CEP and distributes them free of charge
Lead Organizer & Presenter at the Occult Poetics Symposium (Feb 11-12, 2017)
Presenting & reading alongside Ariana Reines, CA Conrad, Marianne Costa, Damian Rogers, Sabrina Scott, Sandra Huber
Presenting essay ‘Something That’s Dead; or Brewing Up Empathy: How Kombucha Taught Me to Slow Down, Love Myself, and Dismantle the Patriarchy’ @ Temps Libre, 3:30-4:45pm
Reading poetry with Ariana Reines & CA Conrad, Feb. 11 @ Drawn & Quarterly Bookstore, Montreal QC, 8-10pm
Presented through Concordia's Centre for Expanded Poetics
Member of Concordia's Milieux Institutre for Arts, Culture, & Technology (Sept 2017 - present)
"Milieux is an ambitious institute for research-creation working at the intersection of design, art, culture and technology. It is a platform for progressive imagining, critical thinking, creative experimenting and interdisciplinary training. Above all, it is a site of innovation, where thinking and making come together to transform our encounter with technology.
Active member of the 'Textiles & Materiality Research Cluster', and founding member of the 'LePARC: Performing Arts Research Cluster'.
Committee Member on the Committee for Equity & Visibility in Academia (CEVA), Concordia University (Sept 2016 – present)
Committee of English graduate students established in 2015 with the goal “to maintain an open dialogue between students, faculty, and administration on issues of representation and visibility in the academy — that means who we hire, who we read, who has a say in who we hire, and what we can do to increase the kinds of voices and perspectives we need to encounter in our educational experience.”
Speaker on Academic Panel: ‘Somatic Limits: (Dis)Embodying the End’
with University of Toronto’s ‘Endings’ Graduate Conference
April 27, 2017 @ Jackman Humanities Building (170 George St.), Toronto ON @ 11:00am – 12:15pm
Delivering my paper “‘Something That’s Dead’: Metaphor, Microbiotics, and Radicalized Empathy as Political Tools”
Reading with Blythe Hutchcroft and Milo Hicks; chaired by Andrea Charise
Durational Performance at 'The Sincerest Form of Flattery', Concordia University's English Graduate Colloquium
March 17-18, 2017 @ LB-361, Concordia University, Montreal QC
performing ‘Rag Bag’ from my Bad Daddies series
“Throughout the two days of the colloquium, Jessica Bebenek will be delivering a durational performance piece in which she adapts Ezra Pound’s Cantos into knitted tapestries. The title of the performance, ‘Rag Bag’, references Pound’s own dismissive term for these now-canonized poems. Jessica invites you to observe her labour, to touch the poems, and to engage in discussion with her about exclusivity in Male Modernism, coded languages, and the invisibility of ‘women’s work’”.
Durational Performance at 'UnDisciplined 2017', Queen’s University’s Cultural Studies Graduate Conference
March 31 – April 1, 2017 @ Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston ON
performing ‘Rag Bag’ from my Bad Daddies series
“Throughout the two days of the conference, Jessica Bebenek will be delivering a durational performance piece in which she adapts Ezra Pound’s Cantos into knitted tapestries. The title of the performance, ‘Rag Bag’, references Pound’s own dismissive term for these now-canonized poems. Jessica invites you to observe her labour, to touch the poems, and to engage in discussion with her about exclusivity in male modernism, coded languages, and the invisibility of ‘women’s work’”
Speaker on Academic Panel: ‘Blurred Boundaries: Between Fiction and the Real’
with Concordia University's 'Off the Page' Annual Literary Festival
March 18, 2016 @ Concordia University, Montreal. 2:45 pm
Delivering essay: "Authenticity, Sexuality, and Girlhood in Marie Calloway’s what purpose did i serve in your life"
Reading with Anne Boyer, Guillaume Morissette, Aimee Wall, Myra Bloom, Yaniya Lee
Speaker on Academic Panel: ‘The One Where Affect Aliens Meet Exploited Others’
with Concordia University's 'Monstrous Impositions' English Graduate Colloquim
March 5, 2016 @ Concordia University, Montreal. 3:30-5 pm
Delivering essay: "It’s Not Easy Having A Good Time: Queer Pleasure & Punishment in The Rocky Horror Picture Show"
Reading with David Flemming & Matt Dueck; moderated by Andre Furlani
teaching
ENG 262: British Literature from 1660 - 1900 (Winter 2017)
Teaching Assistant for Dr. Greg Ellerman
Experience planning and leading weekly tutorials; teaching students one-on-one in weekly office hours; marking student essays
Write Nights Workshop: The Craft of the Poetry Reading
March 22, 2016 @ Concordia’s Library Building, 6th floor faculty lounge (Montreal, QC). 6 pm
“We’ll cover how to read your poetry well, how to build a well-balanced set, knowing your audience, projection & voice, reading with intention, and what it means to have a ‘safe space’. Basically, the rules and why you should break them. Time permitting, we will critique each others’ readings. Bring one copy of a poem to read.”
ENG 246: Science Fiction (Fall 2015)
Teaching Assistant for Dr. Daniel Harney
Experience teaching a full lecture on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, single-handedly facilitating the final exam, and marking student papers.
Tree Seed Workshop: The Craft of the Poetry Reading
Nov. 10, 2015 @ Black Squirrel Books, 1073 Bank St. Ottawa, ON. 6:45 – 7:45pm
“We’ll cover how to read your poetry well, how to build a well-balanced set, knowing your audience, projection & voice, reading with intention, and what it means to have a ‘safe space’. Basically, the rules and why you should break them. Time permitting, we will critique each others’ readings. Bring one copy of a poem to read.”
ENGL 600/801: Literary Pedagogies
Student under Dr. Danielle Bobker
This graduate seminar covered a variety of material around the theories and practicalities of teaching at the university level, focusing on critical pedagogy. Readings and discussions were intensive, with the weekly classes including panels with current university professors and administrators. Assignments included an extensive reading journal on pedagogic theories, a ‘teaching experiment’ presentation with lesson plan, guest introduction, a response presentation on the previous class, and a final teaching statement.
Write Nights Workshop: How to Read & Market Your Work
November 15, 2016 @ Concordia’s Library Building, 6th floor faculty lounge (Montreal, QC). 4:30-6:30
“Anxious about presenting or reading your work in front of an audience? Uncertain about how to promote your work or self-market? Come learn and practice reading and self-marketing tips and techniques with Concordia Write Nights!“
community
Creative Director at Yolk Magazine (Montreal, QC)
from 2022 — 2023
Worked with Editor in Chief on planning initiatives to grow the magazine’s funding and outreach programs. Main duties included writing grants and organizing readings & events.
Associate Poetry Curator at Emerging Writers Reading Series (Toronto, ON)
January 2014 – July 2015
Choosing poets to read their work at this popular monthly series, alongside Jess Taylor (Founder) and Sofia Mostaghimi (Prose Curator)
Formerly show photographer
Regular Contributor at Town Crier Blog (Toronto, ON)
from 2014-2018
Publishing interviews with members of the Toronto literary community, personal essays on literature, and explorations of the Eco-Poetics movement
Founding Editor of Grow & Grow (Toronto, ON)
Active Fall 2012 - Winter 2014
Completed all editing, layout & design, book design & book-making, marketing & promotions, and online & book fair sales
Produced six chapbooks, including poetry, visual art, and cross-genre collaboration
Education & Community Outreach Coordinator at Vallum Magazine (Montreal, QC)
from May – August 2016
Coordinating Vallum’s ‘Poetry for Our Future!’ workshop series
Duties included corresponding with poets and host organizations to facilitate workshops; collecting and processing workshop feedback; researching and writing grants at both the private-donor and government levels; social media and promotions