Alan Squire Publishing

A Small Press With Big Ideas

Poet and jazz scholar, Reuben Jackson along with poet and novelist, Rose Solari, will be giving a reading at The American Poetry Museum in Washington, DC followed by a Question and Answer period. … [Read more...]

Poet and Jazz Scholar Reuben Jackson will host a screening of the documentary film "It Must Schwing - The Blue Note Story" at the Vermont International Film Festival in October.   "In 1939, Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, two young émigrés from Berlin, founded the legendary jazz label Blue Note Records in New York. The label dedicated itself exclusively to the recording of American jazz music and developed its own unmistakeable recording style and sound. Blue Note Records discovered and produced an impressive roster of international jazz stars. This included Miles Davis, … [Read more...]

All the Imagination Can Hold: Compositions by Saxophonist Wayne Shorter, 1974- 2018 Saxophonist Wayne Shorter was (and is) rightly celebrated for both his instrumental prowess and the countless classics he wrote and performed with jazz institutions like Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and the classic Miles Davis Quintet.   His compositional gifts were also a key ingredient of ensembles such as Weather Report and post-Weather, Shorter-led aggregations.  Titles like "Blackthorn Rose" remain, to quote poet Frank O'Hara, "all the imagination can hold." Reuben Jackson is Archivist with the … [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...]

Poet and jazz scholar, Reuben Jackson, will conduct an interview with accomplished jazz saxophonist and Berklee professor, Tia Fuller, at the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. Tia is also a member of Beyoncé's touring band.   For tickets to the festival: To purchase in-person, visit: 153 Main Street Burlington, VT Order by phone at (802-863-5966) Purchase tickets online anytime at flynntix.org. "Join us May 31-June 9, 2019 for the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival, a 10-day celebration of live music for all ages. With free live music on four stages in downtown … [Read more...]

At this years Burlington Discover Jazz Festival, jazz scholar, Reuben Jackson, will conduct a post-screening discussion of the new Aretha Franklin documentary, "Amazing Grace." For tickets to the festival: To purchase in-person, visit: 153 Main Street Burlington, VT Order by phone at (802-863-5966) Purchase tickets online anytime at flynntix.org. "Join us May 31-June 9, 2019 for the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival, a 10-day celebration of live music for all ages. With free live music on four stages in downtown Burlington, headlining shows at the historic Flynn Center for the … [Read more...]

This coming Thursday, May the thirtieth @ 9am, noted poet and broadcast personality, E. Ethelbert Miller, will host Reuben Jackson on his WPFW morning show, "On the Margin." … [Read more...]

Reuben Jackson will be reading alongside Hiran Larew and Teri Ellen Cross Davis at the Parkmont School in DC. From Parkmont: "Parkmont school, in its tradition of being a friend to poetry, is opening its doors to all poetry lovers of D.C.'s metro area. For 35 years the school has sponsored the Parkmont Poetry Festival which is the culmination of an annual poetry contest among the District's middle and high school students. in D.C., Parkmont means poetry." An Open Mic will precede the reading. For more info contact: poetry@parkmont.org   … [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...]

Poet and jazz scholar, Reuben Jackson, will be reading his poetry (old and new) as part of the "Words out Loud" series in Glen Echo Park. 7300 MacArthur blvd (see below) (parking lot on Oxford road) Room 302, third floor, North Arcade Building the entry is to the right of the neon POPCORN sign. ADA accessible … [Read more...]

University of DC Jazz Forum: A Conversation with Reuben Jackson In this University of DC forum, "Archivist, poet, writer, radio broadcaster/producer and currently Jazz Archives Specialist at the Felix E. Grant Jazz Archives, Reuben Jackson, discusses his remarkable career with veteran jazz broadcaster and historian, Rusty Hassan." … [Read more...]

Poet and jazz scholar, Reuben Jackson, is leading a FREE writing workshop at the DC arts non-profit Split This Rock. Reuben Jackson served as curator of the Smithsonian’s Duke Ellington Collection in Washington, D.C. for over twenty years. His music reviews have been published in the Washington Post, Washington City Paper, Jazz Times, and on NPR’s “All Things Considered.” Jackson is also an educator and mentor with The Young Writers Project. He taught poetry for 11 years at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland and taught high school for two years in Burlington, Vermont. His poems have … [Read more...]

MLK Video: Reuben Jackson narrates "March" by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin Hear Reuben Jackson narrate from "March: Book One" in honor of MLK day. If the video is not working, you can follow THIS link to stream it. Happy MLK day! We are super excited to finally see Reuben Jackson's long awaited narration of March: Book One co-written by congressman and civil rights activist, John Lewis. And it does not disappoint. The narration above is paired with visuals from the graphic novel which was illustrated by Nate Powell. For more information, we did a story last week on … [Read more...]