JESSICA GIGOT is a poet, farmer, and coach. She lives on a little sheep farm in the Skagit Valley. Her second book of poems, “Feeding Hour” (Wandering Aengus Press, 2020), won a Nautilus Award and was a finalist for the 2021 Washington State Book Award. Jessica’s writing and reviews appear in several publications, such as Orion, The New York Times, The Seattle Times, Ecotone, Terrain.org, Gastronomica, Crab Creek Review, and Poetry Northwest. Gigot is currently a poetry editor for The Hopper and a 2022 Jack Straw Writer. Her memoir, “A Little Bit of Land,” was published by Oregon State University Press in September 2022.
You have two books of poetry and have recently written a memoir, “A Little Bit of Land.” How did you start writing poetry and why did you decide to write a memoir?
After starting off in college as an English major, I decided to veer towards the sciences (biology specifically) because it was interesting and felt like it would lead to more job opportunities. After a long detour into agricultural research, I did finally realize I was a poet at heart. Attending the Bread Loaf Environmental Writing Conference in 2016 was a pivotal experience because I felt like it gave me permission to integrate the craft of writing and ecopoetics which I had been interested in all along. I have lived in the Skagit Valley for almost 20 years and this memoir is, in part, the story of how I fell in love with this place and became land literate through my experiences in farming. Also, it is the story of how I found contentment as a mother and writer. A few poems morphed into essays that eventually became a memoir.
Photograph Courtesy of Jessica Gigot
Can you tell me about your experience as a Jack Straw Writer? What does that program entail and what have you been working on in the program?
The Jack Straw Writers Program is a year-long program that selects 12 writers based on artistic excellence and diversity of literary genres. The program offers voice and presentation training, in-studio interviews, public readings, and a published anthology. As a rural writer, the Jack Straw Writers Program gave me a great sense of community and connected me to an important group of regional writers that have inspired me to create new work and supported me as a writer. In the program I am working on a third poetry manuscript focused on ecological grief. Also, I have started a second memoir that is going to be focused, in part, on the migratory trumpeter swans that overwinter in the Skagit Valley and continue to amaze me.
What advice would you give aspiring poets/writers?
For aspiring writers, the most important thing is to get words on the page. I think people have the idea that they should only capture their most brilliant material. However, I believe that good writing is good editing. Write what you know, what happens in the day-to-day, and then see what happens. The more material you have to work with, the better.
To learn more about Gigot, visit her on social media @shepherdessjess.
