Didi Jackson

Didi Jackson (born April 22, 1970) is an American poet and professor.[1] In 2020, she released her debut poetry collection, Moon Jar, and in 2024, she released another titled My Infinity, both with Red Hen Press. She is a professor of creative writing at Vanderbilt University.

Career

Jackson has taught "many different levels of students, from high school students to graduate students."[2] Previously, she has taught art history courses; she has also taught in the Department of English at the University of Vermont.[3][1] Since 2021, Jackson has been an assistant professor of creative writing at Vanderbilt University.[4]

In 2020, Jackson released her debut poetry collection, Moon Jar, with Red Hen Press. Among other experiences, the book's poems involve the suicide of Jackson's husband in 2011.[1] She stated it "was a very difficult book to write, but one that I did so out of necessity. I felt I needed to tell my story."[3]

In 2024, Jackson released a second poetry collection called My Infinity with Red Hen Press. Publishers Weekly particularly noted Jackson's poems in conversation with Hilma af Klint and stated "The question of why haunts this stirring collection, giving voice to the human instinct to seek answers from the dead."[5] The Poetry Foundation said "Jackson finds inspiration in Klint’s daring work, in the power of creativity to bring us back to ourselves, to find wonder in the everyday".[6]

In 2022, Jackson won the Robert H. Winner Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America for her poem "Two Mule Deer".[7][8] Jackson's poems have additionally been published in the New Yorker BOMB Magazine, Academy of American Poets, and others.[9][10][11]

Personal life

Jackson has a son.[1] In 2013, she married Major Jackson, another American poet and professor.[12] The same year, they moved to Vermont.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Grayson, Margaret. "Poet Didi Jackson on Grief, Recovery and New Book 'Moon Jar'". Seven Days. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  2. ^ "Didi Jackson: On Love Stories, Migraines, Being Ever-Present on the Page, and Her Poetry Collection, 'My Infinity'". Write or Die Magazine. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  3. ^ a b "How It's Made: Didi Jackson's MOON JAR | Frontier Poetry - Exploring the Edges of Contemporary Poetry". Frontier Poetry. 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  4. ^ "Didi Jackson: Breeding human connection through poetry". Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  5. ^ "My Infinity by Didi Jackson". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  6. ^ Simonovis, Leonora. "My Infinity". The Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  7. ^ "Didi Jackson – Poetry Society of America Award Recipient". Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  8. ^ "Award Winners". Poetry Society of America. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  9. ^ Jackson, Didi (2024-09-02). ""The Dahlias"". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  10. ^ Jackson, Didi (June 14, 2024). "The Ten Largest". BOMB Magazine. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  11. ^ Jackson, Didi. "Fall". Poets.org. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  12. ^ Aleshire, Benjamin (2020-12-07). "Imperfection is Preferred: A Conversation with Didi Jackson". The Adroit Journal. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  13. ^ "Didi Jackson Interview". Interlocutor. 2024-10-08. Retrieved 2024-11-23.