Jacob Harrison. Photo courtesy Ben Williams Photography.

My name is Jacob Harrison, and I’m a story teller.

Story teller is probably the most succinct title I can think of. I write – fiction, non-fiction, copywriting, journalism and academic criticism. I’m a video editor, a content curator and videographer. I’m an advocate for the power of story and communication to break down the perceived barriers that divide us. I’m an actor, a presenter and a model. I’m also an avid social media user, publisher and manager, and I enjoy bringing all my passions together to deliver digital content for an online environment.

I enjoy working across media, the arts, education; and with my many transferable skills, passion for communication and need to tell a story – my story, a client’s story or an organisation’s story – I prefer not to specify exactly what my next role might be, and just be thankful.

Working with AVID media composer. Photo Courtesy of Raymond Gajitos.

While I was studying a Bachelor of Arts with a double Major in Media and Creative Writing from Macquarie University in 2015, I found myself working and volunteering at a number of prolific institutions. I was part of the FilmDoo team in Sydney, contributing content on both the main site and the Filmdoo Blog. I worked with several media organisations; Tropfest, 2SER Radio, Sydney Underground Film Festival, PACT Theatre, The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. I was an Editor and Contributing Writer at Macquarie University’s literary magazine The Quarry, I have written articles for Urchin, contributed to Grapeshot magazine. I am also a student member of the Australian Screen Editors Guild.

After earning my degree, I worked as a Digital Media Content Manager at Word Travels, which offered me experience in a variety of roles. I managed strategy and implementation across social media platforms for both Word Travels and the Australian Poetry Slam, I shot, edited and posted video content to the Australian Poetry Slam YouTube Channel, as well as writing copy and design for wordtravels.info and the Word Travels Newsletter.

For my next role, I returned to Macquarie University, taking up a position as a Research Assistant with the Macquarie University Career Service. In this role, I developed an online platform for students to increase their employability skills, called CareerWISE. My duties ranged from video production and editing work, web design, as well as relevant research and extensive copy writing to provide content for the module. In these roles I was able to hone my skills as an artful and effective communicator.

Burning Man, 2016.

After a once in a lifetime journey to the U.S. for the Burning Man festival (yes, I’m a Burner too!) and Mexico, I found that once I came back to Australia I had to face some hard truths.For several years, my personal life had been a nightmare, dealing with trauma from childhood, deteriorating mental health and a victim of domestic abuse, I finally hit a breaking point. I took some time off (in various institutions), I lost some friends and relationships that were unhealthy, I hibernated and naval gazed for quite a long time but most importantly I reached out and got the help I needed to address the trauma of the past, to grow and to no longer be defined by my scars – though it wasn’t, and isn’t, as linear or as a steady march towards progress as a summary paragraph such as this one may allude.

Then 2020 happened, the world went mad and now we all have trauma! Meanwhile here’s me walking around as naturally as a peanut in a top hat, swinging a cane! Rather than finding that I was being ‘retraumatised’ I felt this was the world my coping mechanisms were made for! I took an increased interest in the sphere of mental health, beyond that of a client of a service or as an academic subject, and realised my lived experience could actually be valuable in the clinical space.

As luck would have it, The End of Times has timed quite nicely just before I was due a pre-mid life crisis, so I decided to Change Places! and enroll in a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (Honours) at the University of Newcastle, with a focus on Mental Health.

There’s going to be posts here related to the above and the below, as well as some sideways content you may not see coming. I’m also a pernicious tart of wanton abandon, so expect some skin from time to time. What else?

I maintain a YouTube Channel, Down Under and South of The Border and am in development of a second channel. I contribute to journals, I occasionally appear in SX, Gay News Network, Alternative Media Group of Australia and FilmDoo Australia, among others.

I would like to continue to develop my career across content production, writing and social media roles. I believe that social media and online interactive platforms offer exciting opportunities for new media forms and new ways for audiences to engage with content; I am very excited to be working in this space.

Although I have a passion for literary nonfiction, memoir and criticism, I am well versed in a variety of styles and formats. I have developed high-end research and communication skills as a result of my studies and extracurricular writing – I am currently working on my first novel.

My areas of interests span cinema, politics, news, literature, occultism, documentaries, the arts and new media as well as pop culture – especially contemporary television.

I enjoy contributing to contemporary discourses on social and environmental issues concerning society – particularly refugee and queer rights, sexuality, the rights and responsibilities of digital citizens, freedom of expression, mental health, Mad Pride, ocean preservation and the sustainability of commercial fishing amongst them. Whether teaching, writing fiction or nonfiction, video journalism, narrative or documentary, I love to tell stories because it is how I can make the world a better place.

This site does not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation or employer that Jacob Harrison may be employed at now or in the future.