Much of Sarah McCartt-Jackson’s poetry draws inspiration from Kentucky folklore, using poetry to explore the stories, beliefs, and people of our pasts that live with us and haunt us in our present. In this talk, McCartt-Jackson reads from her award-winning books and chapbooks, discussing her professional background as folklorist and poet, and how she weaves folk narratives, beliefs, and oral history of Kentucky and Appalachia into her poems. McCartt-Jackson also discuses how others can use their own family history in their creative expression.

Write Where You Are: Poetry and Place

We often teach writers of all abilities to “write what you know.” In Sarah McCartt-Jackson’s case, she writes of the places she knows. In this talk, she reads from her newest books, highlighting how she uses poetry and place to explore deeper truths about people, history, wilderness, home, and cultural and physical landscapes in her poetry. McCartt-Jackson encourages audiences to experience place through sensory-based approaches, and discusses how to incorporate a rooted awareness of place into creative expression.