How Poetry Saved Him: NPR Interviews J. Ivy

J. Ivy is a Def Jam poet and the author of a recently published memoir called Dear Father: Breaking the Cycle of Pain. In Dear Father, he writes about being abandoned by his father at an early age and how poetry helped him to the place where he is today. From NPR:

In his new memoir, Dear Father, J. Ivy describes the pain of being abandoned by his father. But the book is not just about that relationship and what might have been. It's a retracing of a unique career, and what it took for Ivy to get to the place he is today. A Grammy Award-winning poet and spoken-word artist, Ivy is also the author of the book HERE I AM: Then & Now and has collaborated with Kanye West and Jay-Z.

He tells NPR's Rachel Martin that his path to becoming a writer was a long one — and it began back in high school, when teacher asked him to read a poem called "There Once Was a Cloud."

Interview Highlights

I was a very shy teenager. ... My junior year in high school, my English teacher ... gives us this homework assignment to write a poem. And I went home and ... the only thing I could think about was the clouds that I saw outside of my window. So, next day, she surprised the class and made everyone read their homework in front of everyone. So I read my piece and, to my surprise, she pulled me to the side after the class and she told me that I had a very nice speaking voice!

She said, "I have a show coming up, and I want to put you in this show." And I said, "I'm not doing this show." You know, I was shy. ... So I didn't do the show, and then she had another show come up and she said, "You know what? Last time I asked you to do this show, you didn't do it. So this time I'm not asking you. You have to do it."

I decided to take on the challenge, so she gave me a speech to learn. And my first time ever on stage — as nervous and scared as I was to get up there — I got up there and did it. And, first time ever on stage, I received a standing ovation. I just ... fell in love. [...]

Learn more and listen to J. Ivy perform his poetry at NPR.