Mississippi Native: Jamie Dickson

"Home is a place that supports you, but it doesn’t have to be perfect. Mississippi has nourished me in a lot of ways, but it’s also quite burdensome."

Feb 8, 2023

What does it mean to call Mississippi home? Why do people choose to leave or live in this weird, wonderful, and sometimes infuriating place? Today we hear from poet, teacher, and haiku lover James Dickson.

Where are you from?

Born in Hattiesburg, lived in Jackson since 1997

How long have you lived in Mississippi?

All 43 years I’ve been on this planet.

What does “home” mean to you? How does Mississippi fit into that definition?

Home is a place that supports you, but it doesn’t have to be perfect. Mississippi has nourished me in a lot of ways, but it’s also quite burdensome.

How have you cultivated community in Mississippi? Who are the people who have made you feel rooted here?

Being a native Mississippian, I have an advantage of having been able to organically form a community while growing up. I’m still in contact with friends from high school and college, and I’ve been able to forge some amazing friendships in the arts and education community.

I’ve always wanted to be a writer, and being a writer means embracing (not necessarily understanding) complexity. We got complexity!

What’s the weirdest question or assumption you’ve encountered about Mississippi (or about you as a Mississippian) by someone who’s never been here?

I’ve heard variations of “you’re so articulate” more times than I can count. That nice, causal classism. Bless their hearts.

How has living in Mississippi affected your identity and your life’s path?

Hooooo boy. This is a big one.

I was born here, and I love it here, but I hate it here, ya know? Seeing the beautiful and broken parts of the state (geographically, socially, economically, culturally, artistically) has just intensified these complex, contradictory feelings. I’ve always wanted to be a writer, and being a writer means embracing (not necessarily understanding) complexity. We got complexity! William Blake used “the contrary states of the human soul” to inspire his writing, and I just wonder how blown away he would be if we could necromance him and let him wander around the state for a month.

I’ve heard variations of “you’re so articulate” more times than I can count. That nice, causal classism. Bless their hearts.

What is something that you’ve learned about Mississippi only by living here? In what ways has Mississippi lived up to your expectations?

Our food, music, and writing are better than any other state’s. Triple threat.

Do you ever consider moving away someday? Does a sense of duty keep you rooted here? Do you have a “tipping point”?

Duty and gratitude keep me here. See that contradiction bit above. Also, I’m 22 years in the state retirement system, so…yeah. That’s also keeping me here.

What do you wish the rest of the country understood about Mississippi?

Our food, music, and writing are better than any other state’s.

And, this is an idea that Imani Perry has worded much better than I ever could: we are a microcosm of the country. We have everything that everyone else has, but it’s crammed into a tiny, flat, humid space.

Do you have a favorite Mississippi writer, artist, or musician who you think everyone needs to know about?

There are too many to name. Kiese Laymon, Natasha Trethewey, C.T. Salazar, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Beth Ann Fennelley, Derrick Harriell. Also, Richard Wright’s haiku collection is something to behold.

We have everything that everyone else has, but it’s crammed into a tiny, flat, humid space.

Order *Some Sweet Vandal*, Dickson’s latest book of poetry, here.

If you had 1 billion dollars to invest in Mississippi, how would you spend your money?

Schools. That’s it. I’d require that the money be spent on students, but nothing directly involving testing. Then, I’d smile a big big smile when all this non-testing instruction actually increased test scores.

Duty and gratitude keep me here. See that contradiction bit above. Also, I’m 22 years in the state retirement system, so…yeah. That’s also keeping me here.

What or who do you want to shamelessly promote? (It can absolutely be a project you’re working on, or something you are involved in.)

I’m really proud of my debut poetry collection, Some Sweet Vandal. When people hear “writer who’s also a teacher,” they usually think college, not high school. I love my job—it’s really more of a calling for me—and the manuscript deals with my life as a teacher, a husband, a father, and a Mississippian.

James Dickson teaches English and Creative Writing at Germantown High School, just outside of Jackson, MS. An MFA graduate from the Bennington Writing Seminars, he is the recipient of Mississippi Arts Commission fellowships, was named High School Literary Magazine Advisor of the Year by the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association, and was invited to speak at the National Educators Association 50th anniversary celebration “The Promise of Public Education.” His poems, book reviews, and essays appear in The Common, Ruminate, Hospital Drive, The Louisiana Review, Spillway, Slant, Poetry Quarterly, McSweeney’s, Sylvia, and his first collection, Some Sweet Vandal, was published by Kelsay Books this May. He lives in Jackson with his wife, their son, and a small menagerie of animals.