Emily Jaeger
Cultural Reporter
Biography
Emily Jaeger is a poet and cultural reporter based in Wilmington, North Carolina. She received her M.F.A from UMASS Boston in 2017 and was a 2017-18 Olive B O’Connor Fellow at Colgate University. Her first collection, The Evolution of Parasites, was published by Sibling Rivalry Press in 2016. Individual poems have appeared in the Indiana Review, The Journal, and Triquarterly, among other publications. Her articles have been featured in such publications as Insider, JTA, JPOST, News Courier (Cardinal & Pine), and Parents Magazine.
What is the relationship between Judaism and/or Jewish culture and your poetry?
For me the relationship between Judaism and my poetry is best described as an extra layer of consciousness–a neshama yetera— so to speak. A layer of reference, inference, and connection on the in imagery, language, and rhythm that draws from Jewish experience and tradition.
Calling an “extra layer of consciousness” a “neshama yetera” is a perfect example of Jewish experience transposed over English language and American culture. However, for now, very few of my poems relate to Jewish themes and traditions explicitly.
Published Works
The Evolution of Parasites (chapbook; Sibling Rivalry Press, 2016)
Links to Sample Works
- Triquarterly, “Poem with Flower as Central Image”
- The Offing, “Lichen,” “Marjorie Courtnay-Latimer Discovers the Coelacanth Fish,” and “The Liberal Bubble”
- B O D Y, “The Lesbian Roads”
