| Pseudonym: | Katherine Kent |
| Birth Name: | Janet McKishnie |
| Birth Date: | 4 November 1862 |
| Birth Place: | Scotia, Kent County, Canada West |
| Death Place: | Chatham, Ontario |
| Occupation: | Newspaper editor |
| Language: | English |
| Nationality: | Canadian |
| Relatives: | Eve Brodlique (cousin) |
| Signature: | Jean Blewett signature.png |
Jean McKishnie Blewett (pen name, Katherine Kent; 4 November 1862 – 19 August 1934) was a Canadian journalist, author and poet.[1] [2]
Blewett was born Janet McKishnie in Scotia, Kent County, Canada West, in 1862 to Scottish immigrants[3] (some sources say 1872).[4] Eve Brodlique was her cousin.[5]
She attended St. Thomas Collegiate and in 1879, married Bassett Blewett and published her first novel, Out of the Depths.[1] In 1896, she won a prize from the Chicago Times-Herald for her poem "Spring".[4] [6]
Blewett was a regular contributor to The Globe, a Toronto newspaper and in 1898, became editor of its Homemakers Department.[1] In 1919, assisted by the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire, she published a booklet titled Heart Stories to benefit war charities.[1] During this time, she regularly lectured on topics such as temperance and women's suffrage.[2] She used the pseudonym "Katherine Kent" for some of her writing.[6]
In 1925, Blewett was compelled by ill-health to retire her editorship.[1] For two years, she lived with a daughter in Lethbridge, Alberta, before returning to Toronto in 1927.[1] She died in 1934 in Chatham, Ontario.[1]
After her death, fellow female journalist Bride Broder wrote in tribute:
Her brother, Archie P. McKishnie, was also a noted writer.[4]