FAQ

Who is M Renae Dubois?

M Renae Dubois (1974) is a Brisbane poet, painter, and philosopher, who experienced a brain injury at a formative age of 16, and quickly found herself working in the sex industry, taking drugs cos they were safer for her than alcohol culture, and experiencing a roller-coaster of poor mental health, occasional psychiatric hospitalisation, and a string of relationships, good and bad. M Renae Dubois writes sex work poetry, philosophical poetry, and poems about head injury. She has published nine books to date. Seven of them are original poetry books, one is a collection of books 1-3 (Curses of Verses: A Composite), and one prose biography (BPD: A Memoir).

What caused M Renae Dubois' head injury?

M Renae Dubois, at the age of nearly 17, was a front-seat passenger in a motor vehicle accident. It was a front on collision between the sedan she was travelling in and a SEQEB truck, on a blind corner, on a two-way road, in the hinterland of the Gold Coast. She was airlifted to a hospital nearby, and placed in a coma for a few days. It is told to her that she experienced some brain bleeding. She also broke both the bones in her right forearm and later discovered she had broken her left wrist as well. She craved orange juice in hospital.

What was the effect of M Renae Dubois' brain injury?

Renae's injury was in her frontal and temporal lobes, and she said at the time that she had had a great personality change and was loving it. She was very prone to risk, seemingly unaware of danger, which perhaps in a way protected her. She had, and remains having no filter when she talks. She was hypersexual. For a while Renae experienced migraines, but acupuncture assisted there. She felt a kind of amnesia but it was mixed with ambivalence. She had a whole new life now, after all.

What was M Renae Dubois' childhood like?

Renae was born into a Salvation Army family, and moved to a Baptist Church at the height of the Reaganomics Evangelical Era of the 1980s.

How long did M Renae Dubois work in the adult industry?

Renae worked from the age of 18 to approximately 50, sporadically, all together she has calculated 12 and a half years, in stretches of a few months to nearly a year.

What kind of sex worker was M Renae Dubois?

M Renae Dubois worked as a sole-operating escort, rarely working in brothels, occasionally working for an agency.

Is M Renae Dubois affected by her sex work history?

M Renae Dubois enjoyed her time as a sex worker and has written about it, and other sexual rendezvous with the pragmatism, boldness, and honesty she shows in all her books. M Renae Dubois lives with a similar, bold and pragmatic temperament. She is a Gen X-er!

Does M Renae Dubois have a spiritual belief?

Renae, now, is not interested in Religion beyond its historical and sociological aspects. She is a truth seeker, fully knowing that she will never know the whole truth, but ever seeking.

What are M Renae Dubois' plans and current projects?

M Renae Dubois is in the middle of recording the audio versions of her poetry books, and due to their phonetic qualities, she hopes to include a musical element.

What are M Renae Dubois' current mental health diagnoses?

M Renae Dubois originally received the diagnosis of ABI/TBI due to her head injury. Since then she has been diagnosed with a number of diagnoses. Borderline Affective Disorder is a diagnosis she received in the late 90s, along with Bipolar Disorder, PTSD, and anxiety. Since then, the BPD label has been dropped, as has Bipolar, and she is now diagnosed Schizoaffective-bipolar, PTSD, and with Anxiety.

How would you describe M Renae Dubois as a poet?

M Renae Dubois is an original Queensland poet whose work carries a phonetic, rhythmic, bold, self-aware, and intellectual musicality. She writes honestly about situations that may be described as tragic, with pragmatism, psychological resourcefulness, insight, including a critical and self-critical eye, and hopefully with humour. Her poetry is structured, but flows like (good) conversation.