Sandra Jackson-Opoku (born 1953)Karen Boone, Stacie Diedrichsen, and BreAnn Foss
"Sandra Jackson-Opoku"
Voices from the Gaps, University of Minnesota, December 20, 2006. is an American poet, novelist, screenwriter, and journalist, whose writing often focuses on culture and travel in the

African diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from List of ethnic groups of Africa, people from Africa. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the native West Africa, West and Central Africans who were ...

. She has been the recipient of several awards, including from the

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 ...

, the

Illinois Arts Council The Illinois Arts Council is a government agency of the state of Illinois formed to encourage development of the arts throughout Illinois. Founded in 1965 by the Illinois General Assembly, the Illinois Arts Council provides financial and technica ...

, and the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

. Her novels include ''The River Where Blood is Born'' (1997), which won the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

Black Caucus Award for Best Fiction, and ''Hot Johnny (and the Women Whom Loved Him)'', which was an ''

Essence Essence () has various meanings and uses for different thinkers and in different contexts. It is used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property (philosophy), property or set of properties or attributes that make an entity the ...

'' magazine bestseller in hardcover fiction."Sandra's Flow"
''For Love of Writing''. She has also taught literature and creative writing at educational institutions internationally, including at

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 ...

, the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

Nova Southeastern University Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a Private university, private research university in Florida with its main campus in Fort Lauderdale-Davie, Florida, Davie, Florida, United States. The university consists of 14 colleges, offering over ...

, the Writer's Studio at 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 ...

, the North Country Institute for Writers of Color, the Hurston-Wright Writers Workshop, and

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 ...

Biography

Born and brought up in

Chicago, Illinois 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 ...

, she began to compose poetry as a young girl of 10 or 12, later contributing to the high school paper and participating in a writers group called OBAC (The Organization of Black American Culture) that was affiliated with the

Black Arts Movement The Black Arts Movement (BAM) was an African Americans, African-American-led art movement that was active during the 1960s and 1970s. Through activism and art, BAM created new cultural institutions and conveyed a message of black pride. The mov ...

. She attended

, where she majored in Journalism before going on to study Communications and Afro-American Studies at the

University of Massachusetts, Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the Flagship university, flagship campus of the Univer ...

, earning her BA in 1976, having studied under

Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe (; born Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as a central figure of modern African literature. His first novel ''Things Fall Apart'' ( ...

and

Michael Thelwell Ekwueme Michael Thelwell (born Michael Miles Thelwell; 25 July 1939) is a Jamaican novelist, essayist, professor and civil rights activist. He was in 1970 founding chairman of the Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massac ...

, whom she cites as literary influences in addition to

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist and editor. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically accl ...

and

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian writer and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th centur ...

. Her first novel, ''The River Where Blood Is Born'', inspired by a trip to Africa in 1975, was published in 1997, winning the

Black Caucus Award for Best Fiction. The review in the ''

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 ...

'' said: "Besides its sheer literary beauty, Jackson-Opoku’s story-weaving will give readers a new spiritual dimension from which to consider the meaning of life." She is also the author of a 2001 novel, about which ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' wrote: "Jackson-Opoku's ability to craft memorable characters with distinct temperaments and sensibilities marks her as a writer to be reckoned with." As a children's writer, she has received the

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization that acts as a network for the exchange of knowledge between writers, illustrators, editors, publishers, agents, librarians, educators, booksellers ...

Colen Award in New Children's Writing and a Maeve Marie Fellowship for Children’s Writing at the

Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow Dairy Hollow House was a country inn and restaurant in the Ozark mountain community of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Once described as "A kind of Algonquin Round Table of the Ozarks" by ''The Washington Post'', it was co-created by the writer Cre ...

."Sandra Jackson-Opoku"
Ragdale. To mark what would have been the 100th birthday of

Gwendolyn Brooks Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000) was an American poet, author, and teacher. Her work often dealt with the personal celebrations and struggles of ordinary people in her community. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poet ...

(1917–2000), Jackson-Opoku co-edited, with

Quraysh Ali Lansana Quraysh Ali Lansana (born Ron Myles September 13, 1964, Enid, Oklahoma) is an American poet, book editor, civil rights historian, and professor. He has authored 20 books in poetry, nonfiction and children’s literature. In 2022, he was a Tulsa A ...

, the anthology ''Revise the Psalm: Work Celebrating the Writing of Gwendolyn Brooks'' (2017). Featuring contributions from such writers as

Angela Jackson Angela Jackson (born July 25, 1951) is an American poet, playwright, and novelist based in Chicago, Illinois. Jackson has been a member of the Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC), a community that fosters the intellectual development ...

Sandra Cisneros Sandra Cisneros (born December 20, 1954) is an American writer. She is best known for her first novel, ''The House on Mango Street'' (1984), and her subsequent short story collection, ''Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories'' (1991). Her wo ...

Rita Dove Rita Frances Dove (born August 28, 1952) is an American poet and essayist. From 1993 to 1995, she served as United States Poet Laureate, Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She is the first African American to have bee ...

, and Diane Glancy, it was described in ''The Chicago Review of Books'' as "absolutely essential reading for anyone hoping to understand the impact Brooks made on the arts and activism, not just in Chicago but throughout the country." In a review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'',

Claudia Rankine Claudia Rankine (; born September 4, 1963) is a Jamaican-American poet, essayist, playwright, and the editor of several anthologies. She is the author of five volumes of poetry, two plays and various essays. Her book of poetry, '' Citizen: An A ...

wrote that in ''Revise the Psalm'' "we get a keen sense of the poet and her fierce commitment to community engagement". Jackson-Opoku's fiction, poetry, and nonfiction writings have been widely published in outlets including ''

The Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the U.S. and the larges ...

'', ''

Ms. Magazine ''Ms.'' is an American feminist magazine co-founded in 1971 by journalist and social/political activist Gloria Steinem. It was the first national American feminist magazine. The original editors were Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Mary Thom, Pat Carbine ...

'', ''The Literary Traveller'', ''Transitions Abroad'', ''Rolling Out'', ''Soul of America'', ''Islands Magazine'', and elsewhere. She is also a contributor to the 2019 anthology ''

New Daughters of Africa ''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora ...

'', edited by

Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's then youngest publisher as well as the first black female book p ...

. She has taught Literature and Creative Writing at

and at Columbia College, as well as at other educational institutions and at workshops around the world. In July 2020, she was listed as one ''NewCity''s "Lit 50", Chicago's annual Hall of Fame honouring the city's literary community.Tara Betts
"Lit 50: Who Really Books In Chicago 2020"
Lit, ''NewCity'', July 30, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2020.

Selected bibliography

* ''The River Where Blood Is Born'' (novel), One World, 1997, * ''Hot Johnny (And the Women Who Loved Him)'' (novel), One World, 2001, * ''Sea Island Summer'' (for children), Hyperion, 2001,

As co-editor

* With Quraysh Ali Lansana, ''Revise the Psalm: Work Celebrating the Writing of Gwendolyn Brooks'', Curbside Splendor Publishing, 2017, .

References

External links

Sandra Jackson-Opoku
at Facebook.
"Sandra Jackson-Opoku"
at ''Quora''.
"Sandra Jackson Opoku: The Tie Between Past, Present & Future"
June 17, 2015, YouTube.
"Sandra Jackson Opoku: Writing about the African Diaspora"
June 17, 2015, YouTube. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson-Opoku, Sandra 1953 births Living people 21st-century American women African-American women writers Columbia College Chicago alumni University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Writers from Chicago