Writing
Writing lives in my practice as prose, poetry, spoken word and performance text, often emerging through encounters with place, ecology and the more-than-human.
Empathy Bleed Forthcoming Book
Empathy Bleed is a debut unpublished manuscript by Janenne Willis. This work traces two vastly different bodies of water on opposite sides of the Pacific — Wurnmarrinh (Westernport Bay) in Victoria, Australia and Ancient Lake Cahuilla (Salton Sea) in California, USA. It explores what happens when empathy makes porous the spaces between two more-than-human others, inviting us to re-see them, and ourselves.
Simultaneously hyper local and globally resonant, Empathy Bleed is literary nonfiction, nature writing and features glimpses of photographic documentation.
Empathy Bleed currently exists as a hand-bound artist edition. If you’d like to stay informed about the future publication of the book, please sign up to the mailing list below.
Edited by Nicholas Triolo
Empathy Bleed Installation and Performance Reading
A hand-bound artist edition of Empathy Bleed currently lives inside an installation at The Bombay Beach Museum of Bombay Beach in California.
Cover design by Eliza Hill
Typesetting by Typography Studio
Photography by Janenne Willis
Binding by Janenne Willis
Select words were also presented as a live performance reading as part of the Philosophy Conference at the 2026 Bombay Beach Biennale.
See more from these works here.
Poetry Circles
Janenne co-hosts monthly Poetry Circles at Deep See Survey on the first Tuesday of the month.
Read from our library of poetry books, bring a poem to share, or simply listen to others give voice to poetry. All welcome in this relaxed and supportive space. It’s free to attend, there’s no need to register, and herbal tea is available.
Stay up to date via the Deep See Survey Instagram.
Deep Sound
Deep Sound (Prelude), 2026 featured an original poem ‘Untitled’ by Janenne Willis. This exhibition was followed by a major solo work Deep Sound, 2026 featuring poetry and prose written and performed by Janenne Willis. The audio work was made in collaboration with Tilman Robinson and Uncle Lionel Lauch.
Deep Sound was an invitation to listen with sea — from the shoreline and below the surface of the water while snorkelling.
See more about the project here.
Listen to the Deep Sound (Prelude) audio work below:
Nature Obituary
Nature Obituary, 2024 - 2025 featured original poetry by Janenne Willis. These written works were performed live, and subsequently exhibited as part of a Deep See Survey Group Show.
As part of Nature Obituary, 2024 - 2025, Janenne also wrote and created a deck of 50 writing prompts.
See more about the project here.
Sea State
Sea State, 2022 - 2024 featured a series of original poems by Janenne Willis.
This poetry was both exhibited as a gallery of writings and in spoken word featured in an audio work made in collaboration with Tilman Robinson.
These works live as part of a permanent installation in Bombay Beach, California.
See more about the project here.
Listen to the Sea State audio work below:
Western Port Writes
Western Port Writes is a biennial literary festival held on the Mornington Peninsula, in Australia.
For its inaugural festival in 2024, Janenne was invited to write a poem Dear Western Port, for a community storytelling project exploring relationships with Western Port. The poem was presented as the closing work of the festival.