Poems & Publications
Here’s a partial collection of my creative written work.
We Poets
2008 Second Place Winner of Blue Mountain Arts Eleventh Biannual poetry contest
'Cause that's what poets do
We look beyond what's obvious
pulled into the spaces
between the lines
We look for the corners
and the shadows
drawn to trash-treasures
and debilitating views
We weave in wonder with waste
We stand in front of the questions
and chance a head-on collision
with the answers
we
expose
incinerate
crash
and create
We're truth wearers
We scream, cry, whisper, and sing
the world's thinking
The words turn us inside out
throw us off cliffs
and challenge us some more
they hold us responsible
for telling their stories
for displaying their scars
for shedding their layers
for holding them in the night
and promising daylight
and they — the words
deliver on miracles
The words are mountains inside valleys
illuminating abysses
and sometimes shaking
hands with them
Our words slay dragons
of misconceptions
pull the blinders off perception
and cut right through the grain
Yeah
our words stroll in Paris
naked and unapologetic
effective and unaffected
'cause that's what our words do
Poets welcome the edges
and the unkept
we eat the heels of bread
and pocket eggshells
We caress the discarded
and hold mirrors up to humanity
and we'd do best to keep
that mirror on us
for a gentle continuum
of self-eval
Healthiness
Make sure pride
doesn't tarnish the craft
and heads stay small
We are student
as well as teacher
we look on the words
with amazement also
We're healed by digest
our own food
feeds us too
At times vulnerable
other times anonymous
too often synonymous
with only happiness
anger or sadness
we
are
so
much
more
We're a newborn's first breath
and giggling high-school sweethearts
We're seducing suns
and pink beaches
We are stage fright
and therapy couch-dwellers
We're apples and peanut butter sandwiches
College kids choking on cigarettes
We're gusts of wind that escaped
through the cracks of windows
We're leaky faucets that refuse to get fixed
and 9 to 5'ers without deodorant
We are sidewalks and stars
Solomon and The Three Stooges
We're Nyquil at dusk
but wellness at dawn
We're Tastykakes
lemons
and Sourpatches
We're not always
coming from honest places
for sometimes we
covet each others' light
and try to wear
another's skin
instead of embracing our own
We've got some growing to do
We poets pray for
courage
strength
and even acceptance
Sometimes we're on pause
sometimes just on empty
and we don't always
have a poem for you
embrace us
we need hugs too
We'll keep on emptying
ourselves out
refilling
risking and falling
slipping and dancing
soaring
laughing
living
and
writing
For that's what we poets do.
Copyright2005byJaz
TrAuMa
(inspired by Angie Greco)
Starved
for attention-
positive or negative
they hate
the skin
they’re in
so callous
because of
their situations
easier for them to
push me away
because of home
easier for them to
envy
than to compliment
easier for them to
slice the knife both ways
so they won’t be the only one wounded
easier to rage-
it’s better than being background noise
easier to act like drywall
To expose the heart is certain death
They
arrive
in
bits
and
pieces
trynna build
on the bricks thrown at them
“It ain’t personal”
Angie says
She’s a Salve
to where their
Word-daggers dig into me
Why do teachers do it?
Because
They Are Worth The Investment
Worth
Wholeness
Worth
Celebration
Worth
Intercessions
Worth
Agape love
Worth
Safe spaces
Worth the breaking of strongholds
And the healing of generations
They are worth the one that God sees…and…saves.
Copyright2023byJaz
writer
I must write because it will be balm for other sufferers. I must write so it’ll be digest for me. I must write because the words challenge the writer. I must write b/c the ink is my teacher. I must write to honor my Creator. I must write to confront the monsters of my soul. I must write to hold this flesh accountable. I must write so the lies don’t get mixed up in the truth. I must write so I won’t believe that lie. I must write to get out of mine & others’ heads. I must write as a celebration of how far I’ve come. I must write as a reminder of how far I can fall. I must write to express the sheer magnitude of gratitude that my heart can’t hold, over the love of Jesus. I must write to be read. I must write to be a mirror. I must write the ugly, only to show the beauty. I must write the ugly so it won’t be left in the dark to fester and manifest as a cancer on humanity. I must write the ugly, to show us that we’re all capable of it. I must write to breathe life into the mundane. I must write to show there’s purpose for dust…us. I must write because the world needs wholeness. I must write because our spirits need surgery, not band-aids. I must write to show the colors of mankind. To show the complexities of mankind. To show the wonders of mankind. To show the brokenness of mankind.
I must write so the words can be hugs.
I must write as a portal.
I will write because there are too many shadows trying to eclipse my sun.
I will write because we need to laugh.
I must write because I’m in a war.
I must write because the enemy never gives up
I must write
Because we need to forgive ourselves
Because there’s someone who wants to write, but can’t
Because there’s someone who doesn’t want to write, but must
Because words are opening up my pores
Because the unspoken needs a voice
I
Must
write
because
God
told
me
to.
Copyright2009byJaz
To Snatch Black Gold from Sunlight
2020 Community Finalist in the Temple University-sponsored Short Fiction/Poetry contest by French publishing house Short Edition.
Racism
You are
A breathing wound
imprinted upon God's creation
Carved into the psyche of my ancestors
You are a brandished whip
Cross-stitched on the backs
Of my Brothers
Children
Sisters
Racism
You are
The tombs which boldly
traversed great oceans
To trade black blood for your profit,
entertainment & privilege
Racism
You are an
Institutional
Systemic
Oppressive
Global
Pandemic
That rolls over &
over into every century
To show your
diseased face
Like the bloated body
& bulged eyes
Of Emmett Till
Racism
You are a
Thief
of Pulse
and Purpose.
Of Laughter
Dignity
and Healing
Of Home
Value and
Humanity
Of Unity
Of Free
Of THE
AFRICAN AMERICAN
FAMILY TREE.
Racism you are the knee of
Amerikkka which
stole the breath from
George Floyd
and Breonna Taylor
YEAH...
SAY ALL OF THEIR NAMES.
Your wickedness is
in high places and low
Racism
It is time.
Way past time to
Break your stronghold
Torch your interruption
And Face
Your
History
I have
No
Answers
For you
Though...
That's your job.
I will no longer
hold up your mirror
with instructions on
dismantling your poisons
And I will not give you
what you can go
(re)searching for.
No
I am spirit-weary
and soul-tired
of the reruns on the
endless hashtags
of my existence
Your creators must
Do. The.
Work. Now.
Copyright2020byJaz
SPEAK!
Swallowing myself
In an endless
Tangle & tumble
Of touch and torque
Torrid.
Twisted.
I eat my tongue
while they feast on me
But I can’t bear to let it go unspoken
The body
Becomes the poetry.
Copyright2020byJaz
MINISTRY
LORD,
Somebody needs
Your WORD
wrapped around them
Your scriptures
Inscribed
on their cheek
to wipe out
the imprint of abuse
Your Psalms
in their
eyelids
Someone needs
The presence of your peonies
The Balm of Your aroma
Someone needs
The Great I AM…
And so, I write.
Copyright2023byJaz
I HEAR YOUR MOANING, PHILLY
Our hearts are a blaze
With the way evil breaks teeth
Scalps and scab’s kids’ knees
Children on a bus
Deserve providence and light
And pancakes at dawn
And so I lament
And ask the Holy Godhead
To destroy Strongholds.
Copyright2024byJaz
JAZ
Jaz is a jovial being rising early as the sun’s first customer
Amiable and accomplished with enough exuberance for all
Zealously putting the day to bed, while zestfully looking towards the promise of another sunrise
Copyright2024byJaz
P.O.E.T.R.Y.
Prolific, paramount, palatable, panoramic, peculiar
Obscure, offbeat, and observable
Ebullient, earthy, enigmatic and edible
Thrifty, tender, transient and teachable and tactile and tangible and temperamental!
Rambunctious, reliable, radiant and ravishing
Yearning, yearning, yearning.
Copyright2024byJaz
Please Don’t
Drop The Children
Always once more
and again
will I try
They deserve
someone not giving up on them
Scratching the face of help
Testing...against
the spirit of rejection
Bucking
against wounds
where familial word-swords landed...
and bruised
They bite
and bully
one another…
but
their light bends
behind the Cumulus
We’re all
pushing boulders for
the next generation.
Copyright2023byJaz
FREEMAN
My Great Uncle has tales tall and wide as El Árbol del Tule.
I can’t tell where the blur ends and begins.
Every person walking down the street has been cast in his story
“Oh, I know her!
She dated my cousin, then skipped town for parts unknown, before emerging to get hitched with my brother’s brother at the Justice of the Peace.
Shuuucks…ended up being my dentist!”
“Oh, I know him!
Met him in Mississippi. We were in the war together. Ran for our lives together
Wrestled alligators together. Went shopping for women, together”
The way he spins his words…Everyone feels and sounds famous to me!
Everydaypeople is his fodder
I don’t judge the shoes I may one day walk in
I just sit at his feet unraveling poetry
from the navel of his folklore.
Copyright2022byJaz
What Do The Crows Know?
Transient travelers
Screaming sojourners
house to lawn
line to pole
Bush to lake to concrete
Conversating
At the intersections of flight
Sleek wingspans in all their glory
Oh what do the crows know?
I witness
The ease and efficacy
Of their intricate choreography
Obstreperous concerts blundering on my ears
I hear some ant way below
in her car bellow out,
“Oh, would you
SHUT UPPPPP!”
While I long to caress thee Onyx
And cull sky secrets
From their caws.
Copyright2024 by Jaz
ENOUGH
It’s
Time
Now
To
Outrun
Your shadows
And
Eat
The
Morning
Sun.
You are enough.
Enough of waning and wading in the shallows
Enough
You are enough.
Enough of living outside in-
The cheerleader is internal…they’ve always been there
Enough
You are enough.
Enough existing
Enough bowing low
and breaking in the bend
YOU ARE ENOUGH
Even if your family didn’t tell you
YOU ARE ENOUGH
Even if the words of humans shrunk you
YOU ARE ENOUGH!
Copyright2021byJaz
A GAPING EYE
This house-
Where the walls are weeping
The rocker’s
eating its own arms
and the colonial rugs
refuse to lay flat
They curl with corners
towards heaven
in defiance
and in
earnest
of praying us back home.
Copyright2023byJaz
A Song For Kalief
Climb every mountain
Ford every stream
The boots tasted like old, cracked earth inside his mouth
Choking on
His denials of freedom
The aging of his dreams
Follow every rainbow…
Well, he followed every rainbow
And he followed every rule
But only nightmares
found Kalief Browder
Inside
The
Mouth
Of
America’s
Noose.
Till you find your dreams
Oh, you didn’t know?
America eats its
black youth
And swallows
them whole.
(red italics are lyrics from the interpolation of the song “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” by Oscar Hammerstein II)
Copyright2023byJaz
Spring 2022 Residency
Three months ago
Wind-cracked earth
took my face
The lava laden fissures swallowed my pen
I looked no more for ink
to consume the metaphors of morning
I lived outside of my poetry
where breathing hurt
and my heart could no longer trust a good-bye
Where were my words?
Didn’t I promise myself
that as an artist I would use it all?
The dust, the deafness, the bones, the dysfunctions
Why couldn’t I construct meaning
from the in-between?
Why didn’t the Sonnets save me!
Why didn’t I bend my ear a little closer to the page?
When did I stop listening to the white spaces?
Oh, silly poet!
How did I forget that
birth is in the dark spaces of the womb?
And the black of a butterfly’s wing
is needed as much as the light of it?
See I was becoming
the poetry that you now hear
So I’m thankful for the wilderness
And for now being on the other side of the wind.
Copyright2022byJaz
Betwixt Evening’s 8 and 9
As the last bit
of daylight slips
from the sun’s grip
The moon steps forth
extending fingertips
to
cut
and
paste
herself
into
the
night
sky.
Copyright2006 by Jaz
Belt of Truth.
Breastplate of Righteousness.
Shoes of Peace.
Shield of Faith.
Helmet of Salvation.
Sword of The Spirit.
Lance of Prayer & Supplication
(Spiritual Warfare)
Even with shattered knees
Fight
Even with bowed and broken head
Fight
Even with the stain of memories
Fight
Even with the soul bloated, tipsy from pain
Fight
Even with the heart caved in
Fight
Even with the lie of no light on the horizon
Fight
Even with the guardians of your upbringing dropping you
Fight
Even with the maiming of your mental health
Fight
Even with shackles having tantrums
Fight
Take yourself off the enemy’s auction block
And
Fight.
Copyright2023byJaz
A Gift from
Lucille
(For Lucille Clifton)
The words
lightning
held me fast
to the belly of compression
I burned
right there
in the
spark of
its brevity
Copyright2023byJaz
HILLS BOW FOREVER AT YOUR FEET
Hills Bow Forever at Your Feet is an ekphrastic poem based on this image
Every blade of grass sings to you…
mirrors the colors in your voice
Oceans clap their hands
in white foamy waves
Their smiles skimming the edges of great
reflected off the glimmer of the surface
You smile back
Mountains are the earth’s arms
eternally raised in praise
Waterfalls crash in jubilant excellence
at the creativity of your hands
Creation’s song
bounces off of and resonates between sky and sea
The sun rests in your magnificence
It’s light, reflecting yours
Flowers with their faces lifted to you
shimmering under heavens dew
as the trees stand at everlasting attention
in your presence.
Copyright2004 by Jaz
SONKU 4 SONIA
(For Sonia Sanchez)
The Wordsmith
wondrously
crocheting
her bones of poetry
into me
Copyright2024byJaz
Groaning For A Perfect State
darkness
of
night
coil
round
usurp breath
from tired skin
I summon
my
light
to push
thru
rise up
outta
ash
and
dung
to the
One
whose
arms
hold
me
above
my
broken
places
Copyright2004byJaz
Other Publications-
Here are some of my creative writing pieces and an interview if you’d like to learn about me:
The Essentiality of Voice
Finding your voice through the craft of poetry.
Originally published on Substack: Project Write Now and Jaz. Bloom in the Struggle.
Jun 29, 2026
Did you always know your own voice?
Know that you could create, move, and shape worlds with it?
Are you aware that no one can sing your song but you?
In my childhood, adolescence, and teen years (and even some young adult years), I wasn’t cognizant of these truths. I wanted to be anyone and everyone else but me. I hadn’t met myself yet.
I can recall moments when the teacher asked questions, and I knew the answers (and was excited), but in a sea of hands, I denied my value and slipped into the shadows. Tears began to pool inside my soul and would form a stain, stagnant and longstanding. If you don’t know who you are, then you walk through this world on mute and unaware of your worth.
Even though the body of music sang through me and the voices of books, television, and movie characters bled into me, I hadn’t yet known there were symphonies of my own to compose.
I didn’t know I had the right to take up space. That the world would want to hear any words and sounds from me. That I did not have to apologize for my existence nor blanket my shine.
I always believed what others had to say carried much more weight than my whispers.
It was as if I waited on the world’s permission to speak, and when I finally did, I denied the very purpose and importance of my mouth…it’s right…to just be.
I’m sure that this is a huge part of why I’m a poet, songwriter, and teacher of poetry today. Why I fell in love with language. Why my ears naturally bend to melodies and harmonies, because it’s the acknowledgment, amplification, honor, and celebration of VOICE!
In my teaching of elementary students in the public school system, I affirm my kids' voices daily.
I encourage their inflections, cadences, pacing’s, questions, colors, and the freedom to behold their own glow.
I can always feel the searing pain of them not yet having discovered their right to fill spaces with their voice, or the white-hot embarrassment when one of my students can’t find their words. Their eyes reflect my own entrapment suffered years ago and the denial of my own speech. I can deeply sense their search for approval to use a voice different from others.
These moments mirror the me of yesteryear. I empathize with their struggles and hold space and compassion for their journeys.
Through my own storms of swallowing my tongue, I learned the painful but liberating and unforgettable life lessons to esteem, exhort, and uphold my voice without permission and to reach out and pour into others to help them do the same.
At Project Write Now, I have taught extensively on finding and nurturing your own voice through the creative writing craft and joy of poetry. Why it is imperative to lean into your poetic voice. How essential your story is and why it’s so important to hold your words in regard, reverence, and respect.
In that course, we explored the building blocks of poetry—figurative language, rhythm, repetition, and rhyme—then used writing prompts and exercises to push beyond boxes and boundaries. We experimented with poetic forms like Ekphrasis and Acrostic, dove into the art of editing to excavate our very best work, and studied the craft of wordsmiths like Ocean Vuong and Sonia Sanchez. Throughout, I offered writer-focused, generative feedback, and every poet in this community was invited to share and witness each other's creative work. We also explored copyright—because your words are precious, and they deserve protection.
Someone once said, “Who’s going to be you, if you’re someone else?”
I ask …
Who will pen your poems?
Capture your flow?
Cultivate, nurture, and salute the stories within?
Be a witness to the colors and canvas inside of you?
Whether you’re a curious new or experienced advanced poet and creative writer, my classroom is open to free, flourish, and celebrate the voice…your voice. You are welcome here!
Ready to take your voice from page to stage?
Jaz’s newest Poetry class runs six Mondays—September 14th to October 5th, 7 to 9 p.m. ET / 4 to 6 p.m. PT—and is open to writers at every level, from curious beginners to experienced poets looking to go deeper. Space is limited. Register at pwnwriters.org.
I am my friend amongst ink & paper
Social anxiety, what?
Originally published on Jaz’s Substack: Jaz. Bloom in the Struggle.
Jun 08, 2026
I find it funny how some folks emphatically deny the social anxiety I deal with and the brain wiring that is my introversion. See, I am not claiming social anxiety as something that shackles me anymore and at the same time I am embracing this brain that is fearfully & wonderfully made.
They say “Girlfriend it’s NO way that you’re like this because you’re a starburst on that mic…on that stage! And that I am (if I do say so myself lol).
But seriously, social anxiety did scar across my existence as far back as I can remember and I used to think that being introverted was a disease. Both rose as big, black, bullying shadows over my life until I feared something was intrinsically broke within me.
Strange, because I love people and community and comradery and connection. (We were definitely made by Love & for love). And the only times the scary social anxiety monster didn’t clobber me over the head and rake me by my heels is when I was on dance floors for hours in a sea of bodies, oblivious to shadows, merging into the music.
Another time is when…on my birthday…I found myself amongst my formidable and most fabulous friends…THE BOOKS!
I can’t deny my attraction to a bookstore…a library…a reading cove. It is soooo lovely & alluring! I was in love with reading before I ever wrote one poem or one song lyric. To say I got lost in books is in understatement. I was entrenched. I was embedded. I was encased. I was enthralled, captured, and obsessed.
Ink & paper had an ironclad hold on me and nurtured my resplendent imaginations.
An introvert is mostly always in their heads and so there…in my head… I set up shop, lived, and forever flourished in the stories that spilled from the books. They filled up my nooks & crannies to overflow. I didn’t know where I began and where the story ended (and vice versa).
Now back to my birthday. For this special day every year I decide to wear bravery and boldness as skin and plant myself right in the middle of a crowd. This crowd is full of ostentatious, modest, theatrical, inscrutable, bombastic, pastoral, turbulent, and unbothered peeps. Why, pray tell would I do this? Can you guess where I be?
Barnes & Noble, Borders, and all the precious little book coves!
This is where the living is. This connects me to the breath and heartbeat that is mine. This mirrors my childhood when I rode firestorms and sang symphonies into the winds.
Amongst the pages I became my own friend. For it didn’t matter eyeballs burrowing into the back of my head or shiftiness coming into my space or wafts of strange fellows trynna look into my soul. Wasn’t stressed by insipid small talk, sudden spotlights, and socializations. No it didn’t matter the ones who walked past a million empty curved and curled garden stools to dang near plop on my hip. I was not fazed by a stare that lingered too long (this time, I stared back) and I didn’t flee my own shadow.
I was fully present.
Amongst thickets, thorns and thistles...I bloomed.
Unapologetic. Without permission.
Social anxiety, what?
There is no guesswork
how and why words found themselves
emanating and exhaling through my pen.
How metaphors and sonnets and sonku and ekphrasis and enjambment and onomatopoeia became my constant, euphonious, kaleidoscopic, and incalculable companions
I am a lover of language
A wordsmith
unearthing her bones
Poetry is my DNA
Creative writing is my tongue
I am my friend amongst ink & paper
and
I
will
remember
me.
Artists interview with Jaz:
Originally published in The Pitkin Interviews
April 2022
Jaz (aka Pamela Kareen Banks) is an Award-winning Published Poet, Singer, Author, Performance Poet, Actress, and ASCAP Member-Songwriter from Philadelphia, PA. She holds a BA in Theater from Temple University. Her poems are featured in multiple anthologies, literary magazines, and on the internet, podcasts, and public radio. Jaz’s most recent publication was in the Moonstone Press Anthology “International Women’s Day 2022.” Jaz performs songs and poetry at open mics and featured performances as a soloist, and as a member of For Women Collective: an international performance ensemble created to honor the legacy of Nina Simone and as a member of Philly Jawns. She loves nature, karaoke, French fries, and the Big Cats! She is inspired by storms and sunshine. Jaz is a vessel of Christ for ministry, whether on or off the stage.
Alaina: Hi, Jaz. So you had three poems published in the latest edition of The Pitkin Review (Resonant Fractals, Spring 2022) – first, Congratulations! It’s quite an accomplishment. Being on the final selection team for the last edition myself, I can say your work really spoke to people, opened their eyes – so thank you for sharing it with us. Can you tell us a little about one or two of your published poems? What was the inspiration behind them? What is a message you want your readers to take away? For those who weren’t able to get a copy of the journal, Jaz’s poems are: “I KNOW NOTHING (For Sylvia Plath),” “HISTORY (For Dr. Alena Maze),” and “ROOTED.”
Jaz: Thank you Alaina for the congrats, your time and consideration to my work and your kind/reflective words regarding my poems in the Pitkin Review! The inspiration behind “I KNOW NOTHING (For Sylvia Plath)” is Plath herself. Long before I was introduced to her work, some of my poems had been compared to Plath’s by one of my poetry mentors. I finally read her work in my G1 semester and it wrecked me! Her words spoke deeply to me because I know about suffering and the dark thoughts that can accompany that. I don’t think/feel that Plath knew her own allure and power. I’m not sure she knew her worth. I wanted to tell her that she did live and she took up space and made a difference…her heartbeat mattered and made an imprint on this world and in this poet. I always say Plath changed the rhythm of my writing because I’d never ventured into being in such direct conversation with a poet (living or deceased) through my poetry before. I wish I would’ve met her. I wanted my words to be literal hugs for her beautiful tormented soul.
A main message that I want my readers to take away is that they are not alone in life’s torrents of pain that can threaten to overtake and destroy. A lot of my poems exhort and minister peace, healing, love, joy, musicality and wholeness. I love the scripture Isaiah 54:17(NIV) “No weapon forged against you will prevail…” In Christ, the pain of living this life may come, but it’s not going to take you out…it’s not going to prosper over you! I love to encourage the world with hope through my work. My poetry is testimony.
Alaina: Your work seems to hold a significant element of social activism. In your poem “HISTORY (For Dr. Alena Maze)” you write, “Dr. Maze/ You are that history/ that the world does not want to acknowledge/ Are you in Guinness??/ Because I googled to see/ how many times your name was captured in/ Black & white newsies, articles, & bylines…/ >>crickets<<” This is such a powerful excerpt – poem. It speaks to the notion of histories being ignored, unrecognized; particularly the histories of women and people of color. Is social advocacy an important aspect of your work? Exposing injustices, ensuring that histories aren’t completely erased… Is evoking change something you aim to accomplish in your writing?
Jaz: Thank you. Yes I write alot for my people. It is my divine calling to as you say, expose injustices; uphold and honor African American history. But I also write for those whose voices have been ripped out of their throats and silenced. I advocate for those who don’t yet know about their light. For those who feel a part of the sidewalk they’re living on. For those whose land and people have been pillaged and desecrated. I use my pen and the creative word as change-agents. English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton said it best “The pen is mightier than the sword.” [Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy: A Play in Five Acts (second ed.). London. 1839]
Alaina: Such a beautiful sentiment; thank you for being so candid and open with us. In addition to being published in the last edition of The Pitkin Review, you also held the staff position of Copy Editor. Can you tell us about your experience working with the journal? Have you worked with literary journals in the past? What’s your favorite thing about The Pitkin Review?
Jaz: I am tickled and joyous to be working as a Copy Editor with The Pitkin Review! This is my genesis and it’s been such a pleasure and beautiful surprise. I say surprise because I thought the task would be taxing and time-consuming but it definitely hasn’t been. I think it helps that there are two Copy Editors and we can complete the assignments cohesively. I love the experience of seeing the nuts and bolts behind the scenes of what it takes to produce a literary magazine. I’m ever on the outside as the poet eternally submitting work for publication lol. It’s amazing to now see and experience it from both angles. My favorite thing about The Pitkin Review is it’s taking a chance on and welcoming writers who are still in a space and practice of learning their craft. I think that is special, inspirational and honorable. Additionally, because as a copy editor I get to stand in the belly of creation and be a witness to the birth of my classmates written works of art! What a wonder to behold.
Alaina: Can you tell us a little bit about your working thesis? The title? Where you’re at in the process? Anything you’re comfortable sharing. Maybe share a line or two (or ten).
Jaz: What a delightful question! Yes, I feel comfortable in sharing my working thesis title “From Beneath The Indigo.” I’ll tell you a little bit in that my thesis involves honoring the heart of and exhorting humanity. I’m writing for the world. It’s a big pill, I know. But it’s my life’s work and everything I’ve lived and experienced has led up to this. The basic human need is to be seen, to feel that you’ve been heard and that you’re loved, unconditionally. This is the heartbeat of this work. Here’s four pieces I’ll share. You’ll more than likely find them in my thesis 🙂
Alaina: Thank you for sharing! And thanks so much for your time, Jaz. I look forward to reading your thesis when it’s completed (and hopefully published soon after). We hope to see your work again in an upcoming journal (or two)!
Jaz: Thank you kindly for having me Alaina! Ever since I was a little girl I’ve always loved the prospect of being interviewed. Maybe it’s the actress part of me? Nah lol. I’m actually an introvert and normally let my work be my voice. But it’s nice to come out of my comfort zone and share on a deeper level. I too pray that my work will find its home again in The Pitkin Review.