Jacqueline St. Joan: Writer, Teacher, Lawyer, Judge, Mother, Grandmother, Cat Lady, Antiracist, Bi-sexual, Feminist, Alto, White, Welfare Mom, Westerner, Ex-Catholic, Buddhist, Crone. (photo by Andrea Flanagan)

About

Jacqueline St. Joan was raised in the Washington, D.C. area and has lived in the Bay Area, California, Brooklyn, N.Y. and, for most of her life, in Denver, Colorado. She put herself through college, and, as a proud welfare mother, worked her way through law school, was a co-founder and writer for Big Mama Rag: a women’s news journal, published in Denver from 1972-1982. During that era, she wrote articles for Quest: a feminist quarterly, a chapter in Our Right to Love: a Lesbian Resource Book, and a Foreword for Give Me Your Good Ear published by Spinsters Ink. She owned and operated Antelope Publications that published essays by feminist authors, Charlotte Bunch and Adrienne Rich. Later she worked as a lawyer, judge, law professor and child advocate, collaborating to establish Project Safeguard, a victim advocacy organization, to preside in Denver’s first specialized protective orders court, to lead a clemency reform project for women in prison who killed their abusers, and to found a legal services clinic for battered women. The University of Colorado Board of Regents appointed Ms. St. Joan, as a victim advocate, to its Independent Investigation Commission reviewing policies and practices of the university’s athletic department that was accused of using sex and alcohol to recruit high school athletic talent. She has taught law, literature and writing at local universities and hosts a bi-weekly poetry workshop through Columbine Poets, Colorado’s state poetry society.

In 2004 Jacqueline was invited to Pakistan to learn from human rights organizations and friends, an investigation that led to her award-winning book, My Sisters Made of Light, which is set in the women’s rights movement of Pakistan. She raised $25,000 for the construction of a shelter for women and girls in Punjab, Pakistan. In 2006 she served as Chair of the Public Education Committee for the Asian-American Network Against Abuse of Human Rights (ANAA), and held meetings with U.S. Congressional staff to discuss the need for initiatives to address violence against women in Pakistan and throughout the world. From 2017-2020 she led the legal team for Rename St*pleton for All, a local antiracist advocacy organization.

She has a Master's degree in creative writing from the University of Colorado and has won many writing awards. Her novel, My Sisters Made of Light was named a finalist for the Colorado Book Award in Literary Fiction. Her poetry and non-fiction have been published by Ms., The Denver Quarterly, Tumblewords: Writers Reading the West, Empire Magazine, The Bloomsbury Review, Disturbing the Peace, Texas Journal on Women and the Law, and Harvard Women's Law Journal, as well as The Denver Post, F Magazine, The Missouri Review and other publications. She co-edited the anthology, Beyond Portia: Women Law and Literature in the U.S, published by Northeastern University Press (1977).

She has won writing awards in nonfiction and in poetry: 2015 Ziggies poet of the year, 2009 Solas Silver Women's Travel Writing Award and 1997 Rocky Mountain MLA Essay Award; 2009 TCL Poetry Contest, 2000 CLEA Creative Writing, 1997 Denver Press Club, 1997 Colorado Council on the Arts fellowship; 1994 William Battrick Award; 1995 Rocky Mountain Women's Institute. In 2016 her first book of poems, What Remains, was published by Turkey Buzzard Press. She published 250 copies of her poem book, Restitching the Sky, signed and numbered, handset, designed, letterpress printing with seven binding done by Tom Parson. This book is not for sale, but may be used for educational purposes.

Jacqueline has studied with and been influenced by many generous writers, including Chris Abani, Dorothy Allison, Judith Barrington, Olga Broumas, Rebecca Brown, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Ted Conover, Mark Doty, Andre Dubus III, Alexandra Fuller, Patricia Hampl, Linda Hogan, Marilyn Krysl, William Matthews, W.S. Merwin, Alicia Ostriker, and Bin Ramke.

She has published scholarship on topics such as social research, ethics, clinical legal education, and law and literature in Loyola Law Review, Clinical Law Review and Harvard Women's Law Journal. She has lectured throughout the U.S. about violence against women. She has lectured at Metropolitan State University and University of Colorado in courses related to women, law, literature and violence.

Jackie St. Joan: Women in a Day Podcast

“Prepare to be completely inspired and taken with this episode's guest, Jacqueline St. Joan. Jackie was born with a keen awareness of the injustices of the world around her and rather than be complacent or apathetic, she has chosen to be a continuous driver of change. As a dedicated co-parent, a strong member of the Denver feminist community, an attorney then judge and as a successful writer Jackie has found a way to bring awareness and a plan to the issues she tackles from those in her own neighborhood to Pakistan.” – Portia Hensley

https://www.womeninadaypodcast.com/home/2018/8/31/jacqueline-st-joan