Today we’d like to introduce you to Keisha-Gaye Anderson.
Hi Keisha-Gaye, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I have always been a storyteller. I remember sharing poems with classmates in elementary school and then working as an editor of our high school newspaper. I loved to read, and I knew that writing was for me because not much else moved me like the written word. It stoked a fire of possibility within me, helped me visualize the type of life I wanted to live by connecting with the experiences of others, and opened my mind to the myriad ways people throughout time have explored what it means to be human.
My writing began as a way to process my experiences. As a Jamaican-born immigrant growing up in New York City in the 70s and 80s, so much was happening culturally to energize and inspire me. I gradually started to share my work and found that it was a powerful vehicle for connecting and transforming people. I attended Syracuse University and studied journalism and African American studies. I began my career in print and TV journalism, working for outlets like PBS, CBS, and Japanese TV and writing feature articles for magazines like Black Enterprise, Honey, and Teen People. I went on to work in communications and marketing leadership positions in the public and private sectors and in nonprofits.
Throughout my entire career, however, I was also writing and publishing poetry and fiction. I remember nervously going to the NuYorican Poets Cafe open mic in the late 90s and sharing my work. The crowd was so encouraging and affirming that it gave me the courage to push ahead with publishing and performing my poetry. My creative writing career spans more than two decades.
My debut poetry collection Gathering the Waters (Jamii Publishing 2014) was accepted into the Poets House Library and the National Library of Jamaica. I am the author of two other poetry collections: Everything Is Necessary (Willow Books 2019) and A Spell for Living (Agape 2020), which received the Editors’ Choice recognition for the Numinous Orisons, Luminous Origin Literary Award. The multimedia e-book includes my audio poems set to music and my original artwork.
My poetry, fiction, and essays have been widely published in national literary journals, magazines, and anthologies that include Black Fire This Time, Kweli Literary Journal, Small Axe Salon, Interviewing the Caribbean, Renaissance Noire, The Caribbean Writer, The Killens Review of Arts and Letters, Mosaic Literary Magazine, African Voices Magazine, The Langston Hughes Review, Mom Egg Review, and others. As a featured author, I have appeared at such venues as the NY Historical Society, the Brooklyn Museum, Weeksville Heritage Center, Bloomfield College, NY Poetry Festival, and MoCADA Museum.
I am a past participant of the VONA Voices and Callaloo writing workshops, a former fellow of the North Country Institute for Writers of Color and was short-listed for the Small Axe Literary Competition. In 2021, I received the Poetic Icon Award from my alma mater, Syracuse University.
In 2018, I was selected as a Brooklyn Public Library Artist in Residence, and my culminating work for that residency is part of a permanent installation at the Macon Library in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. My visual art has been featured in numerous exhibitions in the tri-state area and in such literary journals as The Adirondack Review, Joint Literary Magazine, MER VOX, Culture Push, and No, Dear Magazine.
I regularly teach English courses across The City University of New York and also lead writing workshops for non-profits and other organizations, including Poets House. I am a graduate of the Syracuse University Newhouse School and College of Arts and Sciences and hold an M.F.A. in creative writing from The City College, CUNY.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Simultaneously, being a mother of two, working full time in leadership positions, and working to fully actualize a literary and artistic career was difficult! I always use the analogy of spinning plates–you have to pay attention to everything so that nothing will fall down and break. There were many times I was burnt out, overwhelmed, and even became physically sick. But this was the only way to build my life, given the skills and resources that I had, so I did the best I could. This was tough but it helped me to become very skilled at time management and self-discipline, and learning to say, “No!” I have taught what I’ve learned along the way to too many students who, like myself, have to multitask to make their lives work. It is difficult, but there’s a way to do it. Self-care should be the first thing on the list. As Maya Angelou said, “Nothing will work unless you do.” I often reflect on those words.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My poetry has largely focused on Caribbean culture, the immigrant experience, womanhood, and spirituality. In many ways, I’m trying to create a bridge in my work that connects us to the wisdom of a past that has been erased and/or suppressed throughout the African diaspora, and specifically in the Caribbean. I often explore the mystical and magical in my work and am especially interested in pathways to decolonizing and liberating the imagination. My visual art, which is largely abstract, is another way of evoking these same conversations. I’m proud of my consistency and tenacity. I often think of these lines from my favorite Lucille Clifton poem: “Born in Babylon / both nonwhite and woman / what did I see to be except myself? / I made it up” (from “Won’t you celebrate with me”). I didn’t always have a mentor or someone to guide me on this path, but I kept learning, sought guidance, and continually worked on my craft. I refused to give up on my artistic goals, and this dedication has paid off. I have also been able to mentor and teach many emerging writers along the way, and I feel very proud that I was able to make that contribution.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Simply put, success is the ability to be your best self for yourself, to fully develop your talents and share in the ways that you see fit, and to have the freedom to chart your own path. Success looks different for each person.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.keishagaye.ink/
- Instagram: @keishagayeanderson
- Facebook: facebook.com/keishagayeanderson
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keisha-gaye-anderson/
- Twitter: @keishagaye1
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/keisha-gaye-anderson
