Daren W. Jackson

I am a novelist, short story writer, and pop culture critic. I write stories about Black life, family, and coming-of-age.

About the Author

I am probably the chill-est guy most people have ever met. I knew I wanted to be a writer when, in high school, I would journal poetry and short stories while waiting to be picked up from school. My goal is to tell the stories that are so often overlooked. I speak for the richness of Black experiences, from the father that is a pillar for his family to the teenager that achieves despite the world's expectations.   Say Hi, Email me

What I Write

  1. Book-length Novels 60%
  2. Short Stories 30%
  3. Editorials 10%
I write everyday. Between my roles as a husband, father, and marketing professional, I am churning out articles about Black millennial life and culture. And if I ever find myself not doing any of those things, I am usually squeezing in a moment or two on my forthcoming novel.
  • I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next.- Gilda Radner
  • Jealously is just love and hate at the same time.- Drake
  • A fool's brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education.- George Bernard Shaw
  • It's only because of their stupidity that they are able to be so sure of themselves.- Franz Kafka
  • There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.- Martha Graham