Reuben Jackson Talks Life and Works with Rose Solari
In ASP's first recorded interview, Reuben Jackson talks to Rose Solari about working, living, and writing his newest collection "Scattered Clouds".
"Jazz, ballet, poetry, his life, and an exciting new project with Alan Squire Publishing..."
So begins ASP Co-Founder and poet Rose Solari at the beginning of her interview with writer Reuben Jackson. The two go way back: Rose met Reuben when they were both publishing under the now-defunct "Gut Punch Press." Reuben won the Columbia Book Award for his first collection under Gut Punch, fingering the keys, and Rose won it for hers, Difficult Weather. In a usually stressful setting under the interrogatory glare of audio interfaces and laptops, Reuben and Rose are old friends, cohorts, and giggling collaborators. Such a conversation you can tell is nothing new for them. They shine the brightest (laugh the loudest) when, after the introductory's standard formalism, they quickly come to earnest shop-talk concerning what they both love and share: writing, reading, music, life.
Listen Below or on ASP's Soundcloud where you can also hear him read his own poetry
“Reading this collection is like going to a concert: the whole orchestra is here and each poem is a solo that fits perfectly into the pocket. The songs played are homage and memory, are jazz and R&B and rock and roll, are commentary and rebellion. Jackson is a conductor who understands how to keep time, every movement of his baton carrying a world in it, taking readers on a journey they will want to replay again and again, so they can feel and dance and sing along.”
—Sami Miranda, Secretary and Curator, The American Poetry Museum, author of Departure and We Is