The Tattooed Poets Project: Jillian Brall

Today's tattooed poet is Jillian Brall, who has the distinction of being the only inked writer to appear on the TPP after National Poetry Month.

Last April she submitted her photo after all the April slots were filled, so I decided to continue the project with the idea that one a month would be a nice number.

Check out Jillian's May 2009 post here.

This year, when she saw on The Best American Poetry blog that I was running the project again, she didn't hesitate to send in a photo and secure a spot.

This is her tattoo:


Jillian explains:

"It's a drawing I did with my eyes closed - of a series of drawings I did with my eyes closed. And this particular girl has kind of become my logo. I've also created picture books that incorporate her and the other characters. In my poems I sometimes refer to a girl or to a "she" or "her", and this drawing of a girl has sort of come to represent them."

This tattoo is on the front of her left thigh and was inked at the same shop where her tree tattoo (from last May's post) was done, R&D Tattooing in Queens, NY. She can't remember the artist, who was not a shop regular, but as you can see from the original drawing, she did, in Jillian's opinion, "a perfect job".



Head over to BillyBlog to read a poem by Jillian here.

Jillian Brall received both her BA in Creative Writing in 2004 and her MFA in Poetry in 2009 from The New School, in New York, NY. She is a NYC certified Teaching Artist, currently living in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn. She recently published a book of poems, Wet Information, under her press, ZoeWo Press. She is also a saxophonist and visual artist, focused on mixed media collage, drawing and painting. Several of her collages can be seen in issue 12 of Pax Americana, as well as featured on The Best American Poetry Blog, and have been used as cover art for several electronic poetry books published by Scantily Clad Press. Prints of her collages, as well as copies of her book, Wet Information, are available for purchase here. Poems have appeared in The Best American Poetry Blog, Praxilla Journal, and are forthcoming in Connotation Press.

Thanks to Jillian for returning to the Tattooed Poets Project!