Kara Jackson
Kara Jackson is the daughter of country folks. She is the author of BLOODSTONE COWBOY (Haymarket Books, 2019). Jackson served as the third National Youth Poet Laureate from 2019-2020. Jackson made her musical debut with her EP A Song for Every Chamber of the Heart, which was self-released. Through a multidisciplinary approach, Jackson attempts to document her lineage in a country that demands its erasure. Her work has appeared in POETRY, Frontier Poetry, Rookie Mag, Nimrod Literary Journal, The Lily, and Saint Heron. Jackson is a TEDx speaker. She is a junior at Smith College.
The impact of poetry and the spoken word club
Spoken Word helped me visualize the impact of my own words. It gave me to confidence to articulate myself and the audacity to investigate my own feelings. In a world that isn’t usually concerned with how I feel, poetry has taught me my feelings are worthy subjects, that I can make space for my obsessions, my concerns, and they deserve to be heard. On a very practical level Spoken Word has given me a career. It broadened my concept of what is possible and how language is at the center of most of our endeavors. Even when I’m not writing poems, I am always using language to connect with someone else, to reach some kind of mutuality with another person using my words. Poetry gave me the means of reaching such mutuality. Through Spoken Word, I have learned how essential language is to how we belong.
Top favorite poets or lyricists
Poets: Patricia Smith, Sharon Olds, and Lucille Clifton
Lyricists: Joanna Newsom, Megan Thee Stallion, and Joni Mitchell
more from kara
Writing Prompts
Start a poem in the moment with, “Today we don’t mind a little ______”
Write about a visit to a place that changed your perspective on yourself or where you’re from
Write about a family member as a minor character in a poem that’s ultimately about you