Interview with MFA faculty member Karol Jackowski
Do
you prefer to be called Sister Karol or Karol?
Karol. “Sister” designates my marital status, like
Mrs., Mr., and Ms. Call me Karol and see me as your sister.
How
have your spiritual beliefs informed your writing?
I found the spiritual exercises that formed me as a
sister—meditation, contemplation, ritual, leisure, “lectio divina” (spiritual
reading)—are the same soulful exercises that form us as writers. In meditation we learn to listen to the
“angel in our soul,” our writing voice. In contemplation
we listen to the voice in nature and the voice in experience, learning to see
more clearly. Ritual becomes a
powerful way to maintain a connection with the unseen and unspoken, to open the
door for the writing voice to speak. Leisure
as a spiritual exercise points to the importance of play in the development
of a spiritual life and a writing life. According to Gertrude Stein, “It
takes a heap of doing nothing to write a good book." And
especially for writers, all reading is “lectio
divina,” spiritual reading—soul food, exercising the mind and feeding the
soul simultaneously. Reading and writing become soulmates. The more we read, the clearer our writing
voice becomes. While I was not aware of it at the time, I can see clearly now
how the more of a nun I became, the more of a writer I became.
You
have taught “Women’s Spiritual Writing through the Ages” and are now teaching
“Nature Writing and Narrative Poetry.” What similarities do you find in these
two topics?
In the first course, “Women’s Spiritual Writing
through the Ages,” the focus is on the spiritual exercises of meditation, spiritual
reading—reading reflectively and meditatively—and ritual. Listening to the
writing voices of women through the ages serves the purpose of clarifying our
voice, hearing more clearly, writing more artfully. The course in “Nature
Writing” focuses on the spiritual exercises of contemplation and leisure, on
listening to the voice of nature and seeing in nature the story of our life. The
first course focuses on how to listen as a writer. The second course focuses on
how to see as a writer. Both focus on exercising the writing voice in soulful
ways.
How
does your spiritual practice carry over into your interactions with your
students?
In addition to being their teacher, I am their
sister. Because readings and assignments in these courses engage students in
profoundly personal ways, responses to one another become ‘spiritual direction”
for all of us. A strong sense of community develops as students’ comments serve
to support, strengthen, and enjoy thoroughly each other’s work. In that way, students
also teach the class. The soulful subject matter lends itself to creating a
working environment online where I find enormous respect for one another, and
the kind of “community” feeling I experience in the sisterhood. Concerns are
shared, insights revealed, support offered always…sisterhood at its best. Not
only am I their teacher, I am also their sister.
What
do you most love about the writing process?
For me, the writing process is nothing short of
divine intervention. The inner voice is a holy spirit and words become our
“magic wand,” the medium for our soul’s message. The writing life keeps my
spiritual life alive and well—that’s what I love most about it. I write at the
beginning and end of every day, oftentimes more. I live a solitary life in
which my writing voice thrives. The spiritual life and the writing life are my
soul sisters, giving me a life I love most. There is nothing I love more than
days and nights of writing, days and nights of divine intervention.
What
else would you like to share with us?
How grateful I am for the opportunity to work with
gifted writers whom I watch grow by leaps and bounds. Seeing the writing voice
become clearer and stronger week after week is pure joy for a teacher. Thank
you for the pleasure of their company.
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