Meet a Board Member: Jessica Gregg
Yellow Arrow Publishing is incredibly excited to officially reintroduce Board Secretary Jessica Gregg to the Yellow Arrow family. Jessica is a former journalist whose day job is now in public relations. Her poetry chapbook, News from This Lonesome City, was published in 2019, the same year she served as one of Yellow Arrow’s Writer-in-Residence. She is always looking for something new to write about.
Jessica adds, “I am very excited about the Poetry is Life book [set for release February 1] that is coming together under the direction of Ann Quinn (Poetry Editor) and Kapua Iao (Editor-in-Chief). I am eager to help spread the word about this project and about Yellow Arrow in general. We are a wonderful resource and a wonderful organization, and I think there are many writers who would benefit from knowing about us.”
She recently took some time to answer some questions for us. Show her some love in the comments or on Facebook/Instagram!
Tell us a little something about yourself:
My first chapbook of poetry, News from This Lonesome City, was published in 2019, and I just finished my second one this year. It’s called All the Wives Got Furs, and I am currently searching for a good home for its poems.
What do you love most about Baltimore?
Baltimore is not pretentious. It’s quirky and full of stories, which makes it a great place to create.
How did you get involved with Yellow Arrow and what do you do?
I was a Writer-in-Residence in 2019, an experience that was invaluable. I volunteered with Yellow Arrow before the pandemic and then recently joined the board. I also am part of Ann Quinn’s “Poetry is Life” class, and we are putting together a book of our work, based on the class, which has been a fun process. Yellow Arrow will publish the book next month!
What are you working on currently?
I am actually writing a young adult manuscript that has two main characters and not surprisingly, one who has been known to break into poetry.
What genre do you write and why?
I write poetry. I love wordplay and all the different formats that poems can take. I also feel like the ‘social media age’ is a perfect time for poetry. People have set ideas about the genre, but really, the genre is full of surprises.
Who is your favorite writer and why?
There are so many great poets out there, but a poet whose work I often return to is Jane Kenyon. I also carry a purse big enough to always hold a book, and Ross Gay’s Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude is currently resting in there; he is another favorite. Finally, I am a big fan of Pádraig Ó Tuama’s podcast “Poetry Unbound,” which is a great place to discover writers I have not read.
Who has inspired and/or supported you most in your writing journey?
The blue-collar work ethic of my colleagues in my past journalism life inspires me to keep going because they showed up to work and wrote every day. That has stuck with me. But many local poets have inspired me with their excellence—Ann Quinn, celeste doaks, Erica Dawson. Gwen Van Velsor also inspired me by starting Yellow Arrow.
What do you love most about writing?
I love crafting sentences, playing with words, and just the general act of creating a story. In other words, I really like the process. There is a lot of joy in it for me, even though I don’t always write about the joyful.
What advice do you have for new writers?
Keep writing. First and foremost, keep writing. But also look for a community that can support you and encourage your progress.
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We are so fortunate to have Jessica join our team; she has provided (and will provide) much support throughout the fall and into 2022! Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women writers through publication and access to the literary arts. Thank you for supporting independent publishing.