Worth meeting: poet and author Saeed Jones
December 17, 2021 7:50 AM Subscribe
SAEED JONES is our guest on this edition of VERY FINE DAY. Saeed is a writer and poet who has won numerous awards for his work. His memoir, “How We Fight For Our Lives” is both brutally real and pure while also carrying itself in some kind of way. That’s really the easiest explanation I can give you. Saeed writes in some kind of way. It just works. It seems easy. It’s not. It wasn’t. And we certainly talk about that in our conversation. But still, there’s a certain kind of beauty in all that.
... I worked so hard to get to New York. I was a little gay black kid in Texas and I was like: I'm gonna make it, and I'm gonna get to that city so I can be myself. And then I did it. I really did. And I'm so proud of myself.
But then I just remember in 2017 I had a trip to Portland - I was teaching a writer's workshop - and it was really the beginning of me realising I needed a change. Because I woke up - I think it's on the campus of Reed College, I think that's the school that we were at - and I woke up early one morning and no one else was awake yet. I made some coffee and there was a swing set in front of where I was staying, and I just got my little coffee, and I sat on the swings, and I realised how quiet and peaceful it was. And I just immediately burst into tears.
More coverage about Saeed Jones:
Columbus Alive
The New Yorker on How We Fight for Our Lives Warning: Includes homophobic slur.
Previously
... I worked so hard to get to New York. I was a little gay black kid in Texas and I was like: I'm gonna make it, and I'm gonna get to that city so I can be myself. And then I did it. I really did. And I'm so proud of myself.
But then I just remember in 2017 I had a trip to Portland - I was teaching a writer's workshop - and it was really the beginning of me realising I needed a change. Because I woke up - I think it's on the campus of Reed College, I think that's the school that we were at - and I woke up early one morning and no one else was awake yet. I made some coffee and there was a swing set in front of where I was staying, and I just got my little coffee, and I sat on the swings, and I realised how quiet and peaceful it was. And I just immediately burst into tears.
More coverage about Saeed Jones:
Columbus Alive
The New Yorker on How We Fight for Our Lives Warning: Includes homophobic slur.
Previously
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On a more cheerful note, if you follow his Twitter, he has a little dog with the most amazing side-eye.
posted by praemunire at 9:33 AM on December 17, 2021 [3 favorites]