Art Chowder January | February, Issue 19 | Page 34

AN INTERVIEW WITH
JACKIE ROSE
Who are your favorites?
I love mystery novels, especially those set in foreign
locales such as Scandinavia, Africa, Asia, and the U.K. I
like the classics like Dickens, Dinesen, Austen, Hurston,
Angelou; you can’t go wrong re-reading these over and
over. If you have not read Mervyn Peake’s desolate
masterpiece, The Gormenghast Trilogy, I recommend it for
sheer overload of images and characters; also Gene Wolfe’s
mind-boggling quintet, The Book of the New Sun, will do
in your head. Ditto the Game of Thrones.
Do you have any new publications or recognition?
I had a piece in The Black Lens in July, our amazing
Spokane newspaper which highlights the perspectives, the
culture, and the history of our communities of color. It was
a “Hair Memoir,” about growing up with black hair in a
non-black culture.
What other interests do you have and does this
inform your work?
I remain fascinated by the natural world, by being out on
the land and watching the animals do their thing. I still
love to hop on a borrowed horse whenever possible. I
adore dogs. I actively pursue acquaintance with people
unlike me, of varied backgrounds and opinions, in hopes
of putting rage behind and being left with only righteous
anger. Righteous anger can accomplish far more toward
making one’s corner of the world just and peaceful. I hope
all this will rattle the writing loose from my head, into
print, and help it be truer and sharper.  
Everything is connected, whether I can see it all or not, and
I don’t believe in coincidence or a random universe.
Diverse Voices Writing Circle meets at Spark
Central, first Thursday of each month at 5:30 pm.
New participants are welcome .
“Jackie has created the tone of this writing group. The
focus has been on positive support while we share our new
writings. She makes everyone feel accepted and always has
productive feedback on specific aspects of our work. She
produces fantastic stories. She is a quiet leader who doesn’t
like a lot of attention, yet her calmness is by no means
without influence or power. In Jackie’s case, the meek do
inherit the Earth. Plus, she is just really cool and fun to
create with.” - John Browning
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ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE