Leaving Saturn

Major Jackson (born 1968 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American poet, professor at Vanderbilt University, and author of six poetry collections. His debut Leaving Saturn (2002) won the Cave Canem Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, while he has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, NEA, and others including a Whiting Award and Pushcart Prize. He edited Best American Poetry 2019 and hosted the podcast The Slowdown from 2023-2025.