My poetry my art is driven by two things – My family and my religion and my family is a bunch of weirdos and my religion is also equally a bunch of weirdos.
There’s this old saying, “Write what you know”. If you know something go ahead and write it down. Which is kind of horse crap. You kind of have to write other things. You have to get outside what you are and into another space that isn’t you. So that you can start to collect new ideas. So I say write what you research. The other thing is write what you love. We don’t really go into our emotional values when we create. We’re trying to think of the big thoughts, the big themes, But what about the big feels? The big wants and the big needs? Write what strikes you. There’s a lot of weird shit in the world. In your every day life you were going to encounter some something that is baffling. It is just odd or that really, really amuses you for some reason.
About the speaker
Jesse is a multiple time finalist at international poetry competitions such as the Individual World Poetry Slam, the National Poetry Slam, the Ill List, the Rustbelt Regional Poetry Slam, and the Ontario International Poetry Slam. His book, The Noise That Is Not You, has gone through multiple publications after selling out, repeatedly, and his poetry has been seen by millions of people all over the world. He concentrates on theatrical presentation, narrative structures, and themes around family and religion.
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