Angela Jackson (born July 25, 1951) is an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, playwright, and novelist based in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. Jackson has been a member of the Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC), a community that fosters the intellectual development of Black creators, since 1970.Smith, D.L. (1985). "Angela Jackson". ''Gale Literature.'' She has held teaching positions at Kennedy-King College,

Columbia College Chicago Columbia College Chicago is a Private college, private art college in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1890, it has 6,493 students (as of fall 2021) pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. It i ...

, Framingham State University, and

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

."Jackson, Angela July 25, 1951-". ''Credo Reference.'' 2018. Jackson has won numerous awards, including the

American Book Award The American Book Awards are an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "t ...

, and became the fifth Illinois Poet Laureate in 2020.

Biography

Childhood/early life

Angela Jackson was born in

Greenville, Mississippi Greenville is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, ninth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, and the largest city by population in the Mississippi Delta region. It is the county seat of Washington County, Mississippi, Was ...

, the fifth of nine children. She grew up in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side of

, where her father, George Jackson Sr., and mother, Angeline Robinson Jackson, moved during the Great Migration. She was raised as a Catholic. As a child, Jackson regularly read books from Chicago's Hiram Kelly Branch library. Jackson claims that she aspired to be a poet since before she was ten years old.

Education

Jackson attended St. Anne's School, a Catholic elementary school. Here, Jackson skipped fourth and fifth grade. She graduated third in her high school class at Loretto Academy in 1968. Jackson was accepted into

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

with a scholarship to pursue pre-medical studies. At Northwestern, Jackson joined a Black student group called For Members Only (FMO), which exposed her to different art forms by Black students and professionals. Her membership in the FMO caused her to join the Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC) with young black writers such as

Haki Madhubuti Haki R. Madhubuti (born Don Luther Lee on February 23, 1942) is an African-American author, educator, and poet, as well as a publisher and operator of black-themed bookstore. He is particularly recognized in connection with the founding in 1967 o ...

(Don L. Lee), Carolyn Rodgers, and

Sterling Plumpp Sterling Dominic Plumpp (born January 30, 1940) is an American poet, educator, editor, and critic. He has written numerous books, including ''Hornman'' (1996), ''Harriet Tubman'' (1996), ''Ornate With Smoke'' (1997), ''Half Black, Half Blacker'' ...

in 1970. This organization, created in 1967, fosters the development of Black Arts while promoting pride in Black heritage. She worked as an editor of ''Nommo'', the OBAC's journal publication. It was during Jackson's time at Northwestern that she decided not to pursue a medical career but, instead, a writing career. Jackson published her first book of poetry, ''Voodoo Love Magic'', in 1974 as an undergraduate student.Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors (2015). "Angela Jackson". ''Gale Literature.'' Retrieved November 14, 2023. She won an

Academy of American Poets The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outrea ...

Award from Northwestern in 1974. In 1977, Jackson graduated with a B.A. in English and American Literature from Northwestern. She graduated from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1995 with an M.A. in Latin American and Caribbean studies.

Career

Jackson continued as a member of the OBAC after graduating from Northwestern and served as the organization's coordinator from 1976 to 1990. Jackson uses poetry as a form of resistance to social injustices. She focuses on the importance of racial equality in her poems and other works. Her writing also deals with other societal matters, such as homelessness, sexuality, and language. Jackson believes that poetry can be used to call on people and systems of oppression to create change for a more equitable society. Although Jackson is best known for her poetry, she worked with other forms of writing, such as short stories and plays, in the 1970s and 1980s. Jackson, aside from her writing career, has held teaching positions at Kennedy-King College in Illinois, Columbia College Chicago in Illinois, Framingham State University in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, and Howard University in

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, acting as a mentor for young writers.

Influences

Jackson has had several influences on her writing career. In Jackson's time as an undergraduate student, poet Mari Evans mentored her. Other members of the OBAC had a positive impact on Jackson's writing.

Hoyt W. Fuller Hoyt W. Fuller (September 10, 1923 – May 11, 1981) was an American editor, educator, critic, and author during the Black Arts Movement. Fuller created the Organization of Black American Culture in Chicago. In addition, he taught creative wri ...

, who preceded Jackson as coordinator of the OBAC, had an especially essential role in Jackson's development as a poet; Jackson even dedicated her first book of poetry, ''Voodoo Love Magic'', to him, along with other OBAC participants and her family.

Reception

Jackson has received praise from various people, including critic D.L. Smith, who claims that her work is “technically deft, densely metaphorical, and constantly inventive.” Another reviewer, Donna Seaman, in ''TriQuarterly,'' asserts that Jackson writes with “a tender radiance” when discussing racial inequalities. During the announcement that Jackson was selected as the 2020 Illinois Poet Laureate, the previous Poet Laureate, Kevin Stein, affirmed that Jackson's “lines bristle with the melody of conversation and soulful blues.” Poet C.T. Salazar classifies Jackson's poetry collection, ''More Than Meat and Raiment,'' as “a work of poetic excellence.”

Awards and accolades

Jackson has won various awards for her writing. * 1973: Conrad Kent Rivers Memorial Award * 1974:

Award from Northwestern University * 1979: Illinois Art Council Creative Writing Fellowship in Fiction * 1980:

National Endowment For the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

Creative Writing Fellowship in Fiction * 1984:

Award for Literary Excellence * 1985:

* 1984: DuSable Museum Writers Seminar Poetry Prize * 1984:

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

for Poetry * 1989: ETA Gala Award * 1996: Illinois Authors Literary Heritage Award * 2000: Illinois Art Council Creative Writing Fellowship in Playwriting * 2002:

Shelley Memorial Award The Shelley Memorial Award of the Poetry Society of America, was established by the will of Mary P. Sears, and named after the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. The prize is given to a living American poet selected with reference to genius and need, and is ...

of the

Poetry Society of America Poetry (from the Greek word '' poiesis'', "making") is a form of literary art that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, literal or surface-level meanings. Any partic ...

* 2008: American Book Award * 2018: The John Gardner Fiction Prize * 2020: Illinois Poet Laureate * 2022:

Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize The Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize is awarded annually by The Poetry Foundation, which also publishes ''Poetry'' magazine. The prize was established in 1986 by Ruth Lilly. It honors a living U.S. poet whose "lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordin ...

winner

Additional awards

* The

Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg w ...

Award * Chicago Literary Hall of Fame Fuller Award * ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' Friends of Literature Book of the Year Award * Six Illinois Arts Council Literary Awards, five for fiction and one for poetry * Illinois Center for the Book Heritage Award * Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent from

Chicago State University Chicago State University (CSU) is a Historically black colleges and universities, predominantly black (PBI) public university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It includes an honors program for undergraduates and offers bachelor's and master ...

* National Endowment for the Arts and the Illinois Arts Council Awards *

TriQuarterly ''TriQuarterly'' is a name shared by an American literary magazine and a series of books. The journal is published twice a year under the aegis of the Northwestern University Department of English and features fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama ...

's Daniel Curley Award

Works

While Jackson has received the most praise for her poetry, she has also published other forms of writing, such as plays, novels, and a memoir.

Poetry

* ''Voodoo Love Magic,'' 1974 * ''The Greenville Club'', 1977 * ''Solo in the Boxcar Third Floor,'' 1985 * ''The Man with the White Liver,'' 1987 * ''Dark Legs and Silk Kisses: The Beatitudes of the Spinners,'' 1993 * ''And All These Roads Be Luminous: Poems New and Selected,'' 1997 * ''It Seems Like a Mighty Long Time, 2015'' * ''More Than Meat and Raiment, 2022''

Plays

* ''Witness!'', 1970 * ''Shango Diaspora: An African American Myth of Womanhood and Love'', 1980 * ''Comfort Stew,'' 1984 (Also known as ''When the Wind Blows'')

Novels

* ''Treemont Stone'', 1984 * ''Where I Must Go,'' 2009 * ''Roads, Where There Are No Roads, 2017''

Memoir

* ''Apprenticeship in the House of Cowrie Shells''

References

External links

Angela Jackson Bio
from Illinois Poet Laureate * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Angela 1951 births Living people 20th-century African-American women writers 20th-century African-American writers 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American women writers 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American writers African-American Catholics American Book Award winners American women novelists Northwestern University alumni Novelists from Illinois People from Greenville, Mississippi Poets from Illinois Poets laureate of Illinois University of Chicago alumni