Mississippi Native: A. H. Jerriod Avant
"Everything I need I have and is here: family, a house, land, a job, and a community."
What does it mean to call Mississippi home? Why do people choose to leave or live in this weird, wonderful, and sometimes infuriating place? Today we hear from poet A. H. Jerriod Avant, who left Mississippi to pursue a career in creative writing before returning to his hometown last year. His debut poetry collection, Muscadine, was published in the fall.
Where are you from?
Longtown, MS sits in the northwest corner of the state, in Panola County.
When did you move back to Mississippi and why did you return?
I was born and raised here, spent the first twenty-three years of my life here before moving away in 2008. Since 2008 I’ve spent nearly each summer here in Longtown before finally moving back (for good I hope) June 3, 2023. I moved back to chase jobs that might allow me to live at home comfortably.
The kudzu, muscadines, pines, pecans, Aunt Shirley’s pound cake, the blues, and smoked meats.
What does “home” mean to you? How does Mississippi fit into that definition?
Home, above all, is a level of peace and ease I feel around me in a place. Most times this has to do with the people that make up my community in a place. It’s definitely that way in Panola County. Family and friends make that place home along with the landscape and natural life native to the place. The kudzu, muscadines, pines, pecans, Aunt Shirley’s pound cake, the blues, and smoked meats.
What did you miss most about Mississippi?
I missed my family the most. We’ve lost a lot of family since 2008 and it makes things a bit different being back here now that so many are gone. I also missed the pace of life that living in the Deep South grants us. I feel I have time to think and write and go about things in a leisurely way.
How have you cultivated community? Do you still feel rooted to Mississippi?
I’ve been back in Longtown for seven months now and have felt rooted since I’ve been back. Rooted in the soil, the home, the church, and with family. Cultivating a literary community has me reaching between Jackson, MS, and Oxford, MS. And while it will take time and energy to tend to either consistently, I think once my job starts in Oxford I’ll have a greater sense of what a cultivated work/social/literary community can look like.
Whether it be language, food, music or the pace of things, the Mississippi in me tends to supersede my expressions and ways of going about my days when I’ve lived elsewhere.
What’s the weirdest question or assumption you’ve encountered about Mississippi (or about you as a Mississippian) by someone who’s never been there?
Perhaps the idea that I’d never want to go back.
How has being from Mississippi affected your identity and your life’s path?
It’s shaped my worldview in most ways. The way I view politics, music, food, religion, language etc. I wouldn’t prefer any vantage point but this one were it up to me.
What is something that you’ve come to understand about Mississippi by living elsewhere?
I’ve come to understand how deeply Mississippi imbeds itself in you wherever you go. Whether it be language, food, music or the pace of things, the Mississippi in me tends to supersede my expressions and ways of going about my days when I’ve lived elsewhere. There’s also the realization that making a difference with my work and talents inside of Mississippi has a much more satisfying impact than it does when I am outside of it.
Did you always think you would move back?
Always. I’ve always had the plan to move back once I was done with school and ready to go to work full-time. Everything I need I have and is here: family, a house, land, a job, and a community.
Mississippi can be a source of wonder and imagination of new ideas and creative possibilities, especially for writers and folks who work in the creative arts.
What do you wish the rest of the country understood about Mississippi?
That your experience in/with Mississippi can be whatever you make it. It doesn’t have to remind you of the limited, popular tropes about the state. Mississippi can be a source of wonder and imagination of new ideas and creative possibilities, especially for writers and folks who work in the creative arts.
Do you have a favorite Mississippi writer, artist, or musician who you think everyone needs to know about?
John Lee Hooker, Natasha Trethewey, Jesmyn Ward, C. Liegh McInnis, Skipp Coon, Kiese Laymon to name a few.
If you had one billion dollars to invest in Mississippi, how would you spend your money?
I would spend this money funding education and the arts in Mississippi. There would be a state-wide, writer-in-the-public-schools program, a cozy, fully-funded, and rotating artist residency at a site in the countryside with state of the art facilities and studios for writers and visual artists. I would spend it on programming which would bring writers who have not had the chance to visit, live, and work in Mississippi, to Mississippi, in a way that enhances the artistic life of Mississippians. I would also go ahead and build the new football stadium for Thee Jackson State University.
What or who do you want to shamelessly promote? (It can absolutely be a project you’re working on, or something you are involved in.)
My first book of poems, Muscadine is out from Four Way Books (September 15, 2023). It is for sale in all formats at: https://fourwaybooks.com/site/muscadine/
Muscadine arrived and I just finished reading your powerful, moving poems. Thank you!
I just ordered a copy of Muscadine from your publisher and can't wait to read it. Oh, and I love the photo of your mother and aunt!