As a child Jackie loved building forts from materials found in the woodlands of central New Jersey. Her first inkling that she could write a poem came in the fifth grade, but being shy, she hid herself in every Civil War history book she could find. She loved the sound of General Beauregard’s name.

Her father, concerned that a history degree would lead to more reading, convinced her to take accounting and economics courses, useful knowledge in the real world. For several years Jackie worked for different insurance companies building call centers. She never lost her love of history and completed her MA at Monmouth University and taught there for two years.

Then she met the love of her life and followed him to the Pinelands of South Jersey where she spent time trying to figure out what to do with the rest of her life. A friend suggested she enroll in Emari DiGiorgio’s Creative Writing course at The Richard Stockton University where she rediscovered her love for writing. She has also studied with Stephen Dunn, Kathleen Graber, and attended several Peter Murphy Writing workshops.

As a member of the South Jersey Poets Collective, Jackie participates in poetry readings at the Arts Garage and on the boardwalk in Atlantic City. She has been published in several journals and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in October 2018 by Dunes Review.

Jackie is also working on her first chapbook Paper Skeletons, an exploration of hand-me-down objects and what they might have witnessed.