Mitchell S. Jackson

Mitchell S. Jackson is an American writer.

Quotes

• It troubles me that our worth is measured against what white people in power care about on a given day, week, month. The stories of my people are evergreen. I will write about them for a lifetime.
  • On how he believes that Black lives are considered topical in “American Blood: An Interview with Mitchell S. Jackson” in The Paris Review (2019 Mar 8)

• I also love the way lists and repetitions can serve as a comfort. We can predict a repetition and that’s soothing, but we can also alter it to create something new, which, in my case, often produces a joy.
  • On employing lists as a writing technique in “American Blood: An Interview with Mitchell S. Jackson” in The Paris Review (2019 Mar 8)

• Guys in prison are always saying, “I wish someone would write my life story. It would be a bestseller.” So I thought I’d start writing my life story…
  • On how his real-life prison experiences shaped his writings in “How Mitchell S. Jackson Paid the Bills While He Wrote the Books” in Medium (2019 Feb 19)

• I think that part of the problem is that a lot of black writers are … satisfied with being successful outside of what you’d call literary fiction. And if you take that satisfaction, you don’t get in the club. You have to write literary fiction to get in the club. And there aren’t that many black writers that they’ve allowed in the club to choose from…
  • On the experiences of Black writers in “Visible Man: An Interview with Mitchell S. Jackson” in The Paris Review (2014 Jan 30)