Contemporary Writers: Marcus Jackson

By Hannah Wiley, Managing Editor and Katie Dusza, News Editor

This past Tuesday, April 21, the Contemporary Writers Series brought poet and photographer Marcus Jackson to campus. A group of English and creative writing students had the opportunity to attend a dinner beforehand and ask questions about his third book being published this June.

Jackson has been at The Ohio State University since 2015 and currently works as an associate professor and director of the creative writing master’s of fine arts program. Jackson originally got his bachelor's degree in communication and English at the University of Toledo and his master’s of fine arts degree from New York University. He’s had poems published in The American Poetry Review, The New Yorker and The New York Times, as well as having his first book, "Neighborhood Register,”  published in 2011 and his second, “Pardon My Heart,” published in 2018. 

Jackson’s book being published in June consists of poems as well as photographs he took from 2020-2022 during the pandemic in Columbus, Ohio. According to Jackson, it is a reflection of parenthood during the pandemic. The collection includes poems that coincide with photographs he has taken. It aims to portray Columbus’s unique culture during such a time full of uncertainty.