Jesse Blackadder

Jesse Blackadder wrote novels, journalism and scripts across subjects ranging from Scottish history to Antarctica and contemporary family life. Sixty Seconds, published in Australia by HarperCollins, reached US readers as In the Blink of an Eye through St. Martin's Press. The novel follows the Brennan family after a sudden loss and examines responsibility, grief and forgiveness through several viewpoints. Blackadder drew the work from a childhood experience that she discussed in interviews with ABC and Radio New Zealand. Her earlier fiction includes The Raven's Heart and Chasing the Light. The Australian Antarctic Program awarded her Arts Fellowships in 2011 and 2018, the second shared with television writer and producer Jane Allen. Blackadder used the earlier expedition to research Chasing the Light and the later residency to develop screen and fiction projects set around an Antarctic research community.