Aila Boyd
aboyd@mainstreetnewspapers.com
After decades of writing fiction, poetry, and commentary, longtime Salem resident and former teacher Amelia Roberson has published her fourth book — this time under her birth name, Caroline Jaques.
The new poetry collection was inspired in part by a serious illness, which she said reshaped the way she viewed writing and healing.
“I used walking in the woods and communicating with nature as a way to strengthen myself,” Jaques said. “Some of these things are on such a visceral level that it takes a long time to express. Writing is my primary way of doing this.”
Publishing under her birth name carries deep personal meaning. Jaques was adopted as a child during the 1950s and 1960s, a time when adoptees were often cut off from their original histories.
“After 65 years of painful separation, using my birth name gives honor to my identity,” she said. “It ties together my two worlds: who I am at my core, and my world experiences as an adopted person.”
Jaques taught at Salem High School early in her career before moving on to teach English at the Natural Bridge Correctional Facility and later at a juvenile prison. Those experiences, she said, left a lasting impact.
“Teachers are in a unique position to change the course of an individual’s life,” she said. “While I tried to inspire students to pursue their own dreams through writing and literature, they challenged my beliefs and made me a better person.”
A two-time graduate of Hollins University, Jaques also studied at Columbia College in Chicago, where she said her undergraduate writing program helped shape her creative voice. In addition to poetry, she has published numerous commentaries and reviews in the Roanoke Times, including a piece on the closing of Natural Bridge.
Her latest book emphasizes the connections between nature, memory, and history.
“I hope Salem readers will be reminded that history is written in the geological markers of earth and stone in local woodlands,” Jaques said. “There is magic in the woods, voices.”
Looking ahead, Jaques said she has a stack of short story ideas waiting to be developed — but poetry will remain at the heart of her work.
“My writing has become sharper, less verbiage,” she said. “Poetry takes more discipline. And my next collection will definitely have the addition of poetry.”
The book can be found at: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/half-past-quantum-caroline-jaques/1147921272
