Meet Jessica Kennedy, One of the Hungerford Four

City of Fremantle Hungerford Prize shortlister Jessica Kennedy is one of four writers in the running to win a $15,000 cash prize, a publishing contract and a writing fellowship. In the podcast you’ll find below, Jessica tells hosts Holden Sheppard and Vate Sutherland how a fascination with the thoughts and ideas of the formerly reviled archaeologist Marija Gimbutas led to writing her shortlisted manuscript. It’s a hopeful and fascinating story that tracks how DNA advances might change our thinking and our history.
Fremantle Shipping News, in association with Fremantle Press, is pleased to bring to you each of the Hungerford Four’s podcast interview. Keep an ear out for the other three!

Here’s the Fremantle Mayor Ben Lawver with the Hungerford Four and podcast host Holden Sheppard.

Back row left to right: Holden Sheppard, winner of the 2018 Hungerford Award, Ben Lawver, Fremantle Mayor, David Harris, Jessica Kennedy
Front row left to right: Michal Stone, Greg Taylor

Proudly sponsored by Fremantle Press, the biennial Hungerford Award is Western Australia’s most prestigious award for an unpublished work of adult fiction, narrative non-fiction, young adult fiction or verse novel by an unpublished writer, and offers a cash prize of $15,000 from the City of Fremantle, a publishing contract with Fremantle Press and a fellowship at the Centre for Stories.

Fremantle Press Publisher Cate Sutherland said Jessica’s book was like seating yourself at a kitchen table with a nice big pot of tea and being told a story by a warm and witty friend.

As it transpires, Jessica Kennedy brings little-to-no writerly credentials to this party. Born in London and now a resident of Perth, she has also lived in the US, Japan and Singapore. For work, she taught English, then spent years climbing a corporate ladder, then jacked that all in to become an acupuncturist, and will soon also be a death doula. Jessica’s pleasures include reading, dancing, cats, dogs and the fierce natural beauty of the Great Western Woodland. Lately, she has been seized by an irresistible compulsion to write about the extraordinary work of Marija Gimbutas.

Holden Sheppard, one of the hosts of this podcast, is an award-winning author born and bred in Geraldton, Western Australia. His debut novel, Invisible Boys, won the Hungerford Award in 2018 and has now been adapted for television as a Stan Original Series (2025). Holden has won national acclaim for the raw, blokey honesty of his four emotional novels about the modern experiences of Aussie men. His writing has been widely published in books, journals, the media and on screen. Holden is an outspoken advocate for artists’ rights, gay rights and men’s mental health, for which he was recognised in the 2026 Australian of the Year Awards as a WA finalist in the Australia’s Local Hero Award.

Cate Sutherland, the other podcast host, has worked in publishing for more than twenty years, in a variety of roles from publicity and marketing to production and editorial. Cate has been the Children’s Book Publisher at Fremantle Press since 2007, and her list includes award-winning picture books, novels for younger readers and young adult fiction.

If you’re wondering about the music in the podcast, well it’s ‘Letter to a Daughter of St George’, from the Meat Lunch EP: Songs from Floaters. Written by Alan Fyfe. Performed by Trevor Bentley (guitar and vocals – @trevormb) and Chris Parkinson (harmonica). Produced by Blake Carnaby of Nuglife studios with impresario work by Benjamin P. Newton.

Btw, the Producer for this podcast is Claire Miller, and the podcast was Mastered by Aidan d’Adhemar.

Read more about this year’s shortlist here.

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Here’s the PODCAST. Enjoy!