Reuben Jackson Talks New Book, Local Poetry Scene with City Paper In his recent interview conducted by Hannah Grieco for the Washington City Paper, Reuben ruminates on the difficulties of writing "Scattered Clouds" and on the robust DC poetry scene. Writer and DC literary citizen, Hannah Grieco, recently sat down with Reuben Jackson and three other DC poets for a conversation as part of an article she was writing on the local poetry scene. The consensus: it thrives. The poets like Reuben Jackson, Seema Reza, and Jose Padua who lead the way for DC poetry write verse that notably … [Read more...]

Author, Leslie Pietrzyk, Interviews Reuben Jackson How "Scattered Clouds" got its title and more in this short and sweet interview of Reuben Jackson conducted by local luminary, Leslie Pietrzyk. Leslie Pietrzyk's brief interview with Scattered Clouds author, Reuben Jackson, is now live on her personal blog. Author of critical darling Silver Girl (and favorite of many here at ASP) and local literary hero, Leslie Pietrzyk, is the perfect person to prod Reuben Jackson into talking strictly of his own work. There are no anecdotal digressions nor educated musings on Herbie Hancock and … [Read more...]

"Melodic Recollections of Notable Musicians: Stories from the Stacks" Reuben Jackson on VPR Reuben Jackson discusses his twenty years working for the Smithsonian's Duke Ellington Collection in this hour long talk he gave over the Vermont Public Radio Airwaves in 2013. A baby-faced Duke Ellington fingering the keys "This isn’t HBO so I won’t go into any of the funny things I may have seen." Reuben Jackson thinks that hindsight is kind of funny, though in a disruptive way. That once you reconnect with a person you once were, you often end up not as smooth and contiguous a person … [Read more...]

Reuben Jackson Shares a Poem from his Upcoming Collection Like the city itself, the Northwest Washington, D.C. neighborhood in which I was raised has changed radically, and yet it has not. There is a certain way in which the streets -and the row brick houses- still provide context, and deep, deep, memory. The other day, I took a walk on my block and found myself standing in front of the house in which the neighbor/friend we called "Little Man" was raised. He kept the front porch company. And he was one of the saddest people I have ever met. He killed himself when he was 7. This poem is a … [Read more...]

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 … [Read more...]

The Contemporary Poets and Musicians on Reuben Jackson's Mind Poet and jazz scholar, Reuben Jackson, discusses three contemporary poets and three contemporary jazz musicians he admires. Saxophonist Kamasi Washington (left) and rapper/poet Tarica June (right) are among the six artists discussed by Reuben Jackson. On Tuesday we ran an article featuring two glowing blurbs for Reuben Jackson's latest poetry collection Scattered Clouds. They came from two young stalwarts of the American poetry community: National Book Award winner, Terrance Hayes, and Maryland's own Abdul Ali, author … [Read more...]

Terrance Hayes and Abdul Ali Speak out about "Scattered Clouds" National Book Award winner, Terrance Hayes, and New Issues Poetry Prize winner, Abdul Ali, give their thoughts on the newest Reuben Jackson collection, "Scattered Clouds." "Reuben Jackson's marvelous poems map the poles between ode and lamentation, politics and intimacy, sagacity and audacity. He writes for everyday neighbors, folkloric brothers, and imaginary sisters. He writes for Trayvon Martin as well as Frank Sinatra. He nimbly charts the broad spectrum of our lives and loves. I have admired Reuben Jackson's work … [Read more...]

PANK Publishes Early Review of "Scattered Clouds" by Reuben Jackson Poet Risa Denenberg describes her first experience reading Reuben Jackson in her review for his upcoming collection "Scattered Clouds" "Abashedly, I admit that I had not read Jackson prior to reading Scattered Clouds. But that is exactly why this compilation of poems from his first book with the two sections of newer poems is such a gem. If some of the poems are familiar, you will nod as you read them. And if not, you will feel like you’ve been missing something. Scattered Clouds further establishes Jackson’s role … [Read more...]

Off the Cuff: The Writing Philosophy of Reuben Jackson "Part of what I try to do [is this]: you know how you go down to the mall and you see monuments to this war and this war, and that’s fine. But, a lot of my friends I think about constantly. Maybe, they’re forgotten in a way; but [what I try] to do, and maybe this is what you do as writers, is to capture people who had an impact on you." -Reuben Jackson Poet and jazz scholar, Reuben Jackson gave a talk in Rockville, MD on April 6th where he went into detail on his writing philosophy and read a few poems from his upcoming collection … [Read more...]