Jessica M. Wilson Cárdenas
Poet | Educator | Activist
Pleased to meet you...
Jessica M. Wilson Cárdenas is a Chicana Poet born in East Los Angeles, CA, USA. A true mix of the many lands, Jessica, came of age in the Inland Empire; surrounded by mulitiple races that couldn't make heads or tails of her...brown skin with an Irish surname was a tough hand to be dealt to a girl growing up alone.
Jessica embraces her indigenous roots, which has been a constant presence in her life. Listening to the spells of the holy Mother Earth, Pachamamma's Santa Ana winds raised her. First guided by her father to write poetry, Jessica later began to take to the Beat Poets -- Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and she adored the darkness of Edgar Allan Poe, the elegance of William Shakespeare, and later the truth from Sylvia Plath. The pen gave her the ability to create and understand the world with clearer eyes. She has been writing steadiliy since age 14, but wrote her first poem at 11.
Jessica is a 3rd generation Beatnik... a Beat Poet from the lines of Jack Spicer to Paul Vangelisti, and the heartbeat of the visual Muse and Master Poet, Maurya Simon. She completed her BA in Creative Writing and Art History from UC Riverside in Riverside, CA, and obtained her Master of Fine Arts from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, CA.
In 2009 she founded the Los Angeles Poet Society and began a string of literary events and open mics such as: Writers' Row: The DTLA Artwalk's Showcase of the Written Art, SoapBox Poets Open Mic, Salon @ NoHo, Gallery 19, LAPS Presents on Full Spectrum, and Writer Wednesday. She teaches poetry with California Poets in the Schools, the oldest non-profit dedicated to the empowerment of our youth in CA, and also teaches Poetry and Expression with the non-profit group, New Earth Organization, with a mission to provide a safe space for youth empowerment and transformation to end the recidivism of youth incarceration in LA county. Jessica teaches in the F.L.O.W. poetry program.
Her books of poetry include: What Breathes, Raw Kit, Marie Morrison, and most recently, Serious Longing, published by Swan World Press in Paris, France. Jessica is an International Poet!
