Angela Jackson facts for kids

Angela Jackson (born July 25, 1951) is an American poet, playwright, and novelist. She lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Since 1970, Jackson has been part of the Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC). This group helps Black artists and writers grow their skills. She has also taught at several colleges. These include Kennedy-King College and Howard University. Jackson has won many awards, like the American Book Award. In 2020, she became the fifth Illinois Poet Laureate. This means she is the official poet for the state of Illinois.

About Angela Jackson's Life

Growing Up in Chicago

Angela Jackson was born in Greenville, Mississippi. She was the fifth of nine children. Her parents, George Jackson Sr. and Angeline Robinson Jackson, moved to Chicago during the Great Migration. This was a time when many African Americans moved from the Southern U.S. to the North.

Angela grew up in the Englewood neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. She was raised Catholic. As a child, she loved reading books from the local library. Jackson says she wanted to be a poet even before she was ten years old.

Her Education Journey

In 1977, Angela Jackson graduated from Northwestern University. There, she won an Academy of American Poets Award. She also earned a master's degree from the University of Chicago. Her studies focused on Latin American and Caribbean cultures. Her novels Where I Must Go and Roads, Where There Are No Roads were inspired by her time at Northwestern.

Angela Jackson's Career

After college, Jackson continued to be an active member of OBAC. She even led the organization from 1976 to 1990.

Jackson uses her poetry to speak out against social unfairness. She believes that poetry can help people and systems change. Her goal is to create a more equal society for everyone.

While she is most famous for her poetry, Jackson also writes other things. In the 1970s and 1980s, she wrote short stories and plays.

Besides writing, Jackson has taught at colleges like Kennedy-King College and Howard University. She enjoys helping young writers develop their skills.

Who Inspired Angela Jackson

Many people have influenced Angela Jackson's writing. When she was in college, the poet Mari Evans was her mentor. Other members of OBAC also helped her a lot. Hoyt W. Fuller, who led OBAC before Jackson, was especially important. Jackson even dedicated her first poetry book, Voodoo Love Magic, to him and other OBAC friends and her family.

Awards and Honors

Angela Jackson has won many awards for her amazing writing.

• 1973: Conrad Kent Rivers Memorial Award
• 1974: Academy of American Poets Award
• 1985: American Book Award
• 1984: Pushcart Prize for Poetry
• 2002: Shelley Memorial Award
• 2008: American Book Award
• 2020: Illinois Poet Laureate
• 2022: Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize

She has also received other honors, including:

• The Carl Sandburg Award
• Chicago Literary Hall of Fame Fuller Award
• Six Illinois Arts Council Literary Awards
• Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent from Chicago State University

Angela Jackson's Works

Angela Jackson is known for her poetry, but she has also written plays, novels, and a memoir.

Poetry Books

• Voodoo Love Magic, 1974
• The Greenville Club, 1977
• Solo in the Boxcar Third Floor, 1985
• The Man with the White Liver, 1987
• Dark Legs and Silk Kisses: The Beatitudes of the Spinners, 1993
• And All These Roads Be Luminous: Poems New and Selected, 1997
• It Seems Like a Mighty Long Time, 2015
• More Than Meat and Raiment, 2022

Plays She Wrote

• Witness!, 1970
• Shango Diaspora: An African American Myth of Womanhood and Love, 1980
• Comfort Stew, 1984 (Also known as When the Wind Blows)

Her Novels

• Treemont Stone, 1984
• Where I Must Go, 2009
• Roads, Where There Are No Roads, 2017

Memoir

• Apprenticeship in the House of Cowrie Shells