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Jessyca Mathews FulFills Her Dream of Being Published

Jessyca Mathews
Photo from Michigan.gov
Jessyca Mathews had one goal in mind since elementary school: To become a well-known author. She 
has more than achieved this goal. Jessyca is now a playwright, blogger, and author.

Jessyca, a high school English teacher, won MarketingNewAuthors.com's (MANA) Passion for Poetry Poet's Contest, and for winning the contest, MANA published her book Simply: A Collection of PoetryIn addition to her book of poetry, Jessyca also wrote the book 318: A Chubby Chick's Tales of Weight Loss and co-wrote the play Appointments: A Flint Water Crisis Account to bring national attention to Flint's water crisis. 

Besides winning in the book publishing realm, Jessyca was named the State of Michigan's Teacher of the Year for Region Five in 2019-2020 and was the recipient of the Michigan Council of Teachers of English's Secondary Teacher of the Year Award in 2018. 

In a question-and-answer interview with MANA, Mathews says she developed a love for poetry as a young girl, thanks to her mother. 

"She was the one who always had me to read when I was young," Jessyca said. "She always gave me poetry books to read, especially African-American writers."
Jessyca said she began writing poetry in high school. 
"There was a literary magazine, The Calliope, that was published for the students and staff," she continues. "I decided to send in some of my work in my senior year and ended up winning the writing award for the senior class. From that point on, I wrote poetry whenever the mood struck me."
When it comes to choosing her favorite poem, Mathews finds it "way too difficult!"