Major Jackson
Major Jackson is an American poet, professor and the author of three collections of poetry: HOLDING COMPANY (W.W. Norton, 2010) and HOOPS (W.W. Norton, 2006), both finalists for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literature-Poetry and LEAVING SATURN (University of Georgia, 2002), winner of the 2001 Cave Canem Poetry Prize and finalist for a National Book Critics Award Circle. He is also a recipient of a Whiting Writers' Award and has been honored by the Pew Fellowship in the Arts and the Witter Bynner Foundation in conjunction with the Library of Congress.
Jackson is the Richard Dennis Green and Gold Professor at University of Vermont and a core faculty member of the Bennington Writing Seminars. He served as a creative arts fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, as the Jack Kerouac Writer-in-Residence at University of Massachusetts-Lowell and currently serves as the Poetry Editor of the Harvard Review.
Published 06/07/17
Jackson is the Richard Dennis Green and Gold Professor at University of Vermont and a core faculty member of the Bennington Writing Seminars. He served as a creative arts fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, as the Jack Kerouac Writer-in-Residence at University of Massachusetts-Lowell and currently serves as the Poetry Editor of the Harvard Review.
Published 06/07/17
Howl: What is your writing process like?
Jackson: Normally, I find time in the day, either morning or evenings, mostly like the former, to sit at my desk and read. For a long time now, reading has preceded the writing of poems. What I am doing here is plunging myself into a stream of thinking that is different from everyday thought, that is, the poet or writer has created an architecture of imagery, ideas, and memories that acclimates my own relationship to language. It's like that moment the tuning moment for an orchestra before it launches into its featured music. Or if you are inclined towards sport metaphors, it’s the warmup jump shots that precede a playoff game.
Howl: How do you edit your work?
Jackson: Because I compose mostly on my computer, I will print out copies of a poem and make it hard edits; each copy is dated and these markups serve as a roadmap to my thinking. Reading a poem out loud is also crucial and allows me to hear moments in the poem that lack the kind of urgency and music I require of each line.
Howl: What advice do you have for budding writers?
Jackson: Be courageous; avoid stating what we have already heard or read before. Writing with distinction means saying the unsayable and being vigilant with language so that you are avoiding cliched language but more importantly cliched thinking. Language can be oppressive; the role of the imagination is to free the human psyche from the confines of that which renders us static and to envision the possibilities
Howl: What do you feel is the responsibility of the poet to the reader and, perhaps, vice versa?
Jackson: The poet does not have any more responsibility than a plumber or bus driver, except to write the best poem possible in their time. Readers who find joy in poetry as an art form can take delight in the performance of language and sound. If a reader finds a poet that they love then they should support the poet by buying their books and sharing their love with others.
Howl: Why do you think poetry is your creative medium of choice?
Jackson: Writing poetry was not a choice but a destiny to grow and discover myself inside an art form that brings me transcendent pleasure and peace.
Jackson: Normally, I find time in the day, either morning or evenings, mostly like the former, to sit at my desk and read. For a long time now, reading has preceded the writing of poems. What I am doing here is plunging myself into a stream of thinking that is different from everyday thought, that is, the poet or writer has created an architecture of imagery, ideas, and memories that acclimates my own relationship to language. It's like that moment the tuning moment for an orchestra before it launches into its featured music. Or if you are inclined towards sport metaphors, it’s the warmup jump shots that precede a playoff game.
Howl: How do you edit your work?
Jackson: Because I compose mostly on my computer, I will print out copies of a poem and make it hard edits; each copy is dated and these markups serve as a roadmap to my thinking. Reading a poem out loud is also crucial and allows me to hear moments in the poem that lack the kind of urgency and music I require of each line.
Howl: What advice do you have for budding writers?
Jackson: Be courageous; avoid stating what we have already heard or read before. Writing with distinction means saying the unsayable and being vigilant with language so that you are avoiding cliched language but more importantly cliched thinking. Language can be oppressive; the role of the imagination is to free the human psyche from the confines of that which renders us static and to envision the possibilities
Howl: What do you feel is the responsibility of the poet to the reader and, perhaps, vice versa?
Jackson: The poet does not have any more responsibility than a plumber or bus driver, except to write the best poem possible in their time. Readers who find joy in poetry as an art form can take delight in the performance of language and sound. If a reader finds a poet that they love then they should support the poet by buying their books and sharing their love with others.
Howl: Why do you think poetry is your creative medium of choice?
Jackson: Writing poetry was not a choice but a destiny to grow and discover myself inside an art form that brings me transcendent pleasure and peace.