Even the Saints Audition

Raych Jackson, 2019.

In Even the Saints Audition Raych Jackson Reconditions her body and reclaims her church. 

This empowering book of poems interrogates the relationship between blackness, shame, and what it is to live a life tied to the church. Rich with historical context and a deeply engaging personal narrative. This body of work is bursting with charm, wit, and pride, as it dances on the thin line between saint and sinner. 

Includes poems such as “A Wasted Ass Shave”, and "I Ask What 'Circumcision' Means in a Full Sunday School Class" that have been watched by millions online

Awards

2019 Chicago Reader's Best of Chicago - Winner (Best New Poetry Collection)

2019 Chicago Reader's Best of Chicago - Runner-Up (Best Poet)

Praise for Even the Saints Audition

This is an important and brave book, one that keeps me asking for more.

- Fatimah Asghar, author of If They Come For Us

Jackson rearranges the scripture of God until it is a machine that works for her. Her bible blesses the ones who roam.

- Kara Jackson, National Youth Poet Laureate, author of Bloodstone Cowboy

This work is a sinner’s diary, made of the secrets between pews, the notes beneath the hymns and the guilt writhing within desire.

- Toaster, Artist