Jacqueline Berger
Encyclopedia
Jacqueline Lisa Berger is an American poet and director of the graduate English program at Notre Dame de Namur University
in California. She is the author of three books of narrative poetry
: The Mythologies of Danger (1997), Things That Burn (2005), and The Gift That Arrives Broken (2010). Her work is concerned with the themes of desire and loss.
in 1982. She studied under Olga Burmas and Jane Miller
at Goddard, and later became interested in free writing
and attended the Freehand Women's Writing Community in Massachusetts. Berger obtained her MFA
from Mills College
in 1995.
Since the late 1990s, she has been the Program Director for the Master of Arts in English at Notre Dame de Namur University
(NDNU) in Belmont, California
. Berger is also an assistant professor and director of the writing center at NDNU and teaches writing at City College of San Francisco
. She draws inspiration from the dependent relationship between her teaching and writing career: "I really adore teaching, and it certainly inspires me. And I couldn’t teach writing if I didn't write. So the two certainly work together."
In the mid-2000s, she participated in the Changing Lives Through Literature program, teaching prisoners at the San Mateo Women's Correctional Facility.
She married technical writer Jeffrey Erickson in 2004.
, Rhino Poetry
and River Styx Magazine
.
Her first book of poetry, The Mythologies of Danger (1997), won the Bluestem Poetry Award and the Bay Area Book Reviewers Association Award. American author Alberto Ríos
, the final judge at the Bluestem competition, described Mythologies of Danger as "poems of immediate human energy and willful edge...Always bold but always thoughtful too...a smart, compelling move into the speaker's world of charged moments, sparks, which here are always dangerous and ingenuously engaging."
Things That Burn (2005), her second book of poetry, was awarded the 2004 Agha Shahid Ali
Prize in Poetry by Mark Strand
, United States Poet Laureate (1990–1991). It was published by the University of Utah Press
in 2004. In Things That Burn, Berger uses narrative poetry to explore the ambient nature of feeling: "I want to use both story and language to enter the place where experience is atmospheric—the blue or red smoke of the soul, if you will."
Her third book, The Gift That Arrives Broken (2010), won the Autumn House Poetry Award. The title originates from a deleted line in a poem that reflected a new closeness with her family at a time when her mother and father were both ill.
technique for generating initial ideas in a notebook followed later by a separate, secondary process of using the computer to shape and refine the poem. She believes that the writing process
is similar to the dream
experience that occurs during sleep. For Berger, the writer doesn't consciously choose a topic to write about in as much as the material simply comes when the time is right:
Notre Dame de Namur University
Notre Dame de Namur University — formerly the College of Notre Dame — is a private, Catholic University located in Belmont, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. Notre Dame de Namur University is an accredited university in San Mateo County, and the fifth-oldest university in California...
in California. She is the author of three books of narrative poetry
Narrative poetry
Narrative poetry is poetry that has a plot. The poems that make up this genre may be short or long, and the story it relates to may be simple or complex. It is usually nondramatic, with objective regular scheme and meter. Narrative poems include epics, ballads, idylls and lays.Some narrative...
: The Mythologies of Danger (1997), Things That Burn (2005), and The Gift That Arrives Broken (2010). Her work is concerned with the themes of desire and loss.
Biography
Berger was born in Los Angeles and received her BA in English from Goddard CollegeGoddard College
Goddard College is a private, liberal arts college located in Plainfield, Vermont, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Goddard College currently operates on an intensive low-residency model...
in 1982. She studied under Olga Burmas and Jane Miller
Jane Miller
-Life:Jane Miller was born in New York and currently lives in Tucson, Arizona where she teaches creative writing at the University of Arizona. She has published seven volumes of poetry of which The Greater Leisures was a National Poetry Series selection...
at Goddard, and later became interested in free writing
Free writing
Free writing — also called stream-of-consciousness writing — is a prewriting technique in which a person writes continuously for a set period of time without regard to spelling, grammar, or topic. It produces raw, often unusable material, but helps writers overcome blocks of apathy and...
and attended the Freehand Women's Writing Community in Massachusetts. Berger obtained her MFA
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
from Mills College
Mills College
Mills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...
in 1995.
Since the late 1990s, she has been the Program Director for the Master of Arts in English at Notre Dame de Namur University
Notre Dame de Namur University
Notre Dame de Namur University — formerly the College of Notre Dame — is a private, Catholic University located in Belmont, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. Notre Dame de Namur University is an accredited university in San Mateo County, and the fifth-oldest university in California...
(NDNU) in Belmont, California
Belmont, California
Belmont is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. It is in the San Francisco Bay Area, located half-way down the San Francisco Peninsula between San Mateo and San Carlos. It was originally part of the Rancho de las Pulgas, for which one of its main roads, the Alameda de las Pulgas,...
. Berger is also an assistant professor and director of the writing center at NDNU and teaches writing at City College of San Francisco
City College of San Francisco
City College of San Francisco, or CCSF, is a two-year community college in San Francisco, California. The Ocean Avenue campus, in the Ingleside neighborhood, is the college's primary location...
. She draws inspiration from the dependent relationship between her teaching and writing career: "I really adore teaching, and it certainly inspires me. And I couldn’t teach writing if I didn't write. So the two certainly work together."
In the mid-2000s, she participated in the Changing Lives Through Literature program, teaching prisoners at the San Mateo Women's Correctional Facility.
She married technical writer Jeffrey Erickson in 2004.
Poetry
Her poetry has been published in two anthologies of American literature: "Grandfather" was included in On the Verge: Emerging Poets and Artists (1995); "Getting to Know Her", "The Gun", and "Between Worlds" were published in American Poetry: The Next Generation (2000). Berger's poems have also appeared in Patterson Literary Review, Poetry FlashPoetry Flash
Poetry Flash is a literary magazine and website based in the San Francisco Bay Area; it has been called "an institution in the Bay Area's literary culture". It publishes literary reviews, poetry, interviews, and essays as well as an extensive calendar of literary activities on the west coast of...
, Rhino Poetry
RHINO Poetry
Rhino Poetry is a nonprofit literary journal based in Evanston, Illinois. Established in 1976 as an outlet for members of the Poetry Forum workshops, Rhino expanded its scope in 2002 to national and international poets. It features works from unknown and established English-language poets, as well...
and River Styx Magazine
River Styx Magazine
River Styx was launched in St Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. in 1975 after earlier poetry readings and musical sessions among enthusiasts had begun in the early 1970s. The magazine is produced three times a year and is available in bookshops and other outlets and by subscription...
.
Her first book of poetry, The Mythologies of Danger (1997), won the Bluestem Poetry Award and the Bay Area Book Reviewers Association Award. American author Alberto Ríos
Alberto Ríos
Alberto Álvaro Ríos is an American author of nine books and chapbooks of poetry, three collections of short stories, and a memoir. He is a Regents' professor of English at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona...
, the final judge at the Bluestem competition, described Mythologies of Danger as "poems of immediate human energy and willful edge...Always bold but always thoughtful too...a smart, compelling move into the speaker's world of charged moments, sparks, which here are always dangerous and ingenuously engaging."
Things That Burn (2005), her second book of poetry, was awarded the 2004 Agha Shahid Ali
Agha Shahid Ali
Agha Shahid Ali was a Kashmiri American poet...
Prize in Poetry by Mark Strand
Mark Strand
Mark Strand is an American poet, essayist, and translator. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1990. Since 2005, he has been a professor of English at Columbia University.- Biography :...
, United States Poet Laureate (1990–1991). It was published by the University of Utah Press
University of Utah Press
The University of Utah Press is the independent publishing branch of the University of Utah and is a division of the J. Willard Marriott Library. Founded in 1949 by A. Ray Olpin, it is also the oldest university press in Utah...
in 2004. In Things That Burn, Berger uses narrative poetry to explore the ambient nature of feeling: "I want to use both story and language to enter the place where experience is atmospheric—the blue or red smoke of the soul, if you will."
Her third book, The Gift That Arrives Broken (2010), won the Autumn House Poetry Award. The title originates from a deleted line in a poem that reflected a new closeness with her family at a time when her mother and father were both ill.
Style
Berger is an advocate of the free writingFree writing
Free writing — also called stream-of-consciousness writing — is a prewriting technique in which a person writes continuously for a set period of time without regard to spelling, grammar, or topic. It produces raw, often unusable material, but helps writers overcome blocks of apathy and...
technique for generating initial ideas in a notebook followed later by a separate, secondary process of using the computer to shape and refine the poem. She believes that the writing process
Writing process
The Writing process is both a key concept in the teaching of writing and an important research concept in the field of composition studies.Research on the writing process focuses on how writers draft, revise, and edit texts...
is similar to the dream
Dream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
experience that occurs during sleep. For Berger, the writer doesn't consciously choose a topic to write about in as much as the material simply comes when the time is right:
We don't go to bed at night with an idea of what we're going to dream about. It's a very strange and mysterious and unconscious process...you have weird dreams that appear out of left field and we don't control it. I really do think that writing is much the same. I generate all my material through free writing, which is pouring things out in a notebook. And I just don't know what's going to pop-out.
External links
- Official site
- Notre Dame de Namur University, faculty page
- http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/author.php?auth_id=2608Jacqueline Berger on The Writer's AlmanacThe Writer's AlmanacThe Writer's Almanac is a daily radio and on-line program and podcast of poetry and historical interest pieces, usually of literary significance. It is hosted by Garrison Keillor and is produced and distributed by American Public Media...
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