jax by jax

Emily K. Michael is a blind poet, musician, and writing instructor from Jacksonville, FL. Since 2016, she has worked as the associate poetry editor for Wordgathering: A Journal of Disability Poetry and Literature. Her poetry and essays have appeared in Wordgathering, The Hopper, Artemis Journal, The South Carolina Review, The Deaf Poets Society, Nine Mile Magazine, Bridge Eight, Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics, BREVITY’s Nonfiction Blog, Barriers and Belonging, and AWP Writer’s Notebook. Her first chapbook manuscript Natural Compliance won Honorable Mention in The Hopper’s 2016 Prize for Young Poets. Her first chapbook, Neoteny is available for pre-order from Finishing Line Press.

Emily’s work centers on ecology, disability, and music. She develops grammar workshops for multilingual learners and delivers poetry workshops for writers at all levels. She regularly reads at Jax By Jax, a yearly literary festival celebrating Jacksonville writers. Emily is passionate about grammar, singing, birding, and guide dogs. Find more of her work at http://emilykmichael.com.

A coach wouldn't be much good if they always agreed with you. Lynn Skapyak Harlin has been punching writers in the face to make them better since 2001. She likes to talk about how "mean" she is, but that's not how workshop participants describe her. And that's certainly not why they keep coming back, year after year. Jacksonville's favorite literary curmudgeon, The Shantyboat Lady, ties the ghost of her dear, departed shantyboat up to the dock at River of Grass, for an hour of poetry and tough talk from a tender heart.

Sometimes it's hard to know who your friends are, even when there aren't any cultural barriers to overcome. In his work, Sohrab Homi Fracis documents his experience as an Indian immigrant adapting to American culture—the good, the bad, and the ugly—in the 1980s. Fracis, who now calls Jacksonville home, has gone on to gain recognition for his excellent work, but he walks through life with a perspective inextricably tied to his Asian roots, and the hostility of some Americans to anyone who looks or speaks differently than them.

Fracis was the first Asian author to win the Iowa Short Fiction Award, which was for his 2001 collection, Ticket to Minto: Stories of India and America. The book was also a finalist for the Flannery O’Connor Award for short fiction. A novella Adaptation of Ticket to Minto was a finalist in Screencraft’s Cinematic Story Contest.

Fracis’s 2017 novel, Go Home, was a finalist in the International Book Awards: Multicultural Fiction category, and it brought him the South Asian Literary Association's Distinguished Achievement Award. The novel was shortlisted by Stanford University for the 2018 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. His novel excerpt, “Distant Vision,” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Nikesha Elise Williams is an Emmy award winning news producer and author. She was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, and attended Florida State University where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Communication: Mass Media Studies and Honors English Creative Writing. Nikesha’s debut novel, Four Women, was awarded the 2018 Florida Authors and Publishers Association President’s Award in the category of Adult Contemporary/Literary Fiction. Four Women, was also recognized by the National Association of Black Journalists as an Outstanding Literary Work. She has subsequently published two additional novels: The Appeal of Ebony Jones, and her latest, Love Never Fails. She joins Darlyn on Scribbler's Corner at River of Grass to talk about her writer's journey, including the inspiration of Nina Simone, the importance of being heard, the "Jacksonville Renaissance" and how she lost the first draft of her first novel, Four Women, and had to start over. Her advice for new writers: Start writing, and don't ever stop.

To celebrate National Poetry Month, Scribbler's Corner caught up with one of Jacksonville's rising stars.

Andres Rojas was born in Cuba and came to the U.S. at age 13. He attended Florida Junior College, now FSCJ, here in Jacksonville and went on to earn an M.F.A. and a J.D. from the University of Florida. His work has been featured in numerous literary magazines and included in the 2017 edition of Best New Poets. His first chapbook, Looking for What Isn’t There, is forthcoming from Paper Nautilus.

For all of that success, however, Rojas has wrestled, for decades with severe clinical depression and the kind of self doubt that all writers struggle with from time to time. He shares how he came to terms with his inner critic by learning to accept self doubt, and submit anyway, recognizing that you miss 100 percent of the shots not taken.

The song, Southbound Lane, featured in this episode, was written and produced by Andres Rojas and performed by Eclepto Funk America. It is used here with the Author's permission.

If you know and love Andy (And we are happy to say we do!) do yourself a favor: Pour yourself a drink and binge watch his archived front porch concert series available in the video section on his facebook page. It will make you smile. And it will make you want to have him over for songs and Sangria.

UPDATE: Looking for What Isn't There is now available.