Dr Rebekah Clarkson is a Learning Adviser in the Student Engagement Unit, based on the city west campus of UniSA. The Learning Adviser Team provides academic learning support for UniSA students through online Study Help resources, academic skills workshops, in-course workshops, individual appointments, and student peer support training. Rebekah is a UniSA Ally.
Rebekah has a BA in Aboriginal Studies from UniSA, which led to her early career in policy and government administration, including the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the Aboriginal Reconciliation Council. She has an MA and PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Adelaide, where she previously worked as Coordinator of Writing Support programs.
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About me
Dr Rebekah Clarkson is a Learning Adviser in the Student Engagement Unit, based on the city west campus of UniSA. The Learning Adviser Team provides academic learning support for UniSA students through online Study Help resources, academic skills workshops, in-course workshops, individual appointments, and student peer support training. Rebekah is a UniSA Ally.
Rebekah has a BA in Aboriginal Studies from UniSA, which led to her early career in policy and government administration, including the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the Aboriginal Reconciliation Council. She has an MA and PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Adelaide, where she previously worked as Coordinator of Writing Support programs.
Rebekah has worked as a creative and professional writing consultant in schools, libraries and community venues. As an academic, she has designed and delivered English and Creative writing courses in Universities in Australia and the U.S and worked as a tutor in the Wirltu Yarlu Academic Mentoring program at the University of Adelaide. She is an award-winning writer, experienced public speaker, workshop facilitator and mentor. Rebekah is passionate about building vibrant and collaborative communities of learners and supporting individuals to find their own voice. She is adept at contextualising and demystifying tertiary education for all students and is committed to supporting learners from diverse cultural and language backgrounds.
About me
President (2021-2023): Association for Academic Language and Learning
Member: International Association of Student Affairs and Services
Board member (2017 - present): International Society for the Study of the Short Story in English
About me
Doctor of Philosophy The University of Adelaide
Master of Arts (Creative Writing) The University of Adelaide
Bachelor of Arts (Aboriginal Studies) University of South Australia
Rebekah’s fiction writing has been recognised in major awards in Australia and overseas, including the ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize, Fish Publishing Short Story Prize and Glimmer Train’s Fiction Open. Her short stories have appeared in publications including Griffith Review, Best Australian Stories and Something Special, Something Rare: Outstanding Short Stories by Australian Women (Black Inc.).
Her doctoral research is a work of fiction in the form of a short story cycle, and an exegesis. The exegesis explores the history, definitions and theories of the cycle genre, while outlining and interrogating the journey of the short story writer in utilising opportunities peculiar to the extended form. These... Read more
Research
Di Niro, C, Walker A, Nilsson A, Clarkson R, Gou Y, Spasovska E, Levy N & Cannell C 2021, ‘Writing, playing, transforming: a collaborative inquiry into neoliberalism’s effects on academia, and the scope for changing the game’ in Black, A L and Dwyer, R (eds), Reimagining the Academy: ShiFting Towards Kindness, Connection, and An Ethics of Care, Palgrave and Macmillan (forthcoming October 2021)
Clarkson, R 2020, 'Easter Monday 2020' , in Prendergast, J, S Strange & J Webb (eds) 2020 The in / completeness of human experience, TEXT Special Issue Number 58, TEXT: Journal of writing and writing courses 24, 1 (April): 25.
Cannell, C, Spasovska E, Gou Y, Nilsson A, Clarkson R, Di Niro C, Levy N & Walker A, 2020, ‘Doing collective biography differently by incorporating methods of narrative inquiry, poetic inquiry and performance studies into the analysis of writings-as-data’, in A Philp, E Jeffery & L McGowan (eds) Creating communities: Collaboration in creative writing and research, TEXT Special Issue Number 59, TEXT: Journal of writing and writing courses 24, 2 (October).
Di Niro, C, Walker A, Nilsson A, Clarkson R, Gou Y, Spasovska E, Levy N & Cannell C, 2020 ‘Becoming-game: an assemblage of perspectives on challenges for early career academics in neoliberal times’, in A Philp, E Jeffery & L McGowan (eds) Creating communities: Collaboration in creative writing and research, TEXT Special Issue Number 59, TEXT: Journal of writing and writing courses 24, 2 (October): 1-15.
Clarkson, R 2018, ‘Valentine’s Day’, Kill Your Darlings March 2018, <https://www.killyourdarlings.com.au/article/valentines-day/>
Clarkson, R 2018, ‘Valentine’s Day’, in Lee M. A & Penn A (eds.), The Radiance of the Short Story; fiction from around the globe pp 182-189
Clarkson, R 2017, Barking Dogs, Affirm Press, Melbourne.
Clarkson, R 2017, 'The Honesty Window’, in Allington, P & Schultz J (eds),Griffith Review 55 ‘State of Hope’/ pp 289-306
Clarkson, R 2015, ‘Something Special, Something Rare’ in Something Special, Something Rare: Outstanding short stories by Australian women, Black Inc, Australia pp 218-236.
Clarkson, R 2014 ‘Something Special, Something Rare’ in Lohrey A (ed) Best Australian Stories, Black Inc, Australia pp 145-159 .
Research
Rebekah’s fiction writing has been recognised in major awards in Australia and overseas, including the ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize, Fish Publishing Short Story Prize and Glimmer Train’s Fiction Open. Her short stories have appeared in publications including Griffith Review, Best Australian Stories and Something Special, Something Rare: Outstanding Short Stories by Australian Women (Black Inc.).
Her doctoral research is a work of fiction in the form of a short story cycle, and an exegesis. The exegesis explores the history, definitions and theories of the cycle genre, while outlining and interrogating the journey of the short story writer in utilising opportunities peculiar to the extended form. These opportunities centre on place, which is an explicit connection in the story cycle, but implicit connections are also explored, in the spaces between the stories, to examine contemporary themes including isolation, middle class aspiration, land politics, gender and family. The short story cycle is published as a novel-in-stories by Affirm Press (Barking Dogs, 2017).
Teaching & student supervision