'Stay Brave' with Mira Jacob
‘Stay Brave’ is an interview series by woman-identifying creatives for woman-identifying creatives to inspire bravery in the creative life. [Created and curated by Leah Umansky]
How do you interpret the phrase, "Stay Brave?"
To keep trying to do things you haven’t done before.
As a woman-identifying writer, what are the ways that you “stay brave” in your life?
I keep trying to do things I haven’t done before.
Who is someone in your life who models “staying brave” for you?
My partner.
What writers, artists, and/or musicians do you look to to foster a sense of “bravery?”
Lynda Barry, Arundhati Roy, Janelle Monae, Nick Cave (artist) and Audre Lorde.
What’s a piece of advice you would pass on to your younger self about “staying brave?” What’s something you know now, that you didn’t know in the past?
Bravery is cyclical. There are moments you have it and moments you don’t and both teach you.
Can you remember a time in your life where you realized your own bravery? How did you use it to propel you forward?
Truly, I never realize it at the moment, only after, in the safety of seeing how it all panned out.
What do you do when you aren’t feeling brave? What inspires you or motivates you?
I read and listen to interviews with other people who make art.
In what ways would you like to be more brave in your creative life?
I’d like to be brave enough to stop making things and not worry about how that would effect my livelihood.
What is your proudest moment of bravery?
Making my last book & putting it out
What are you currently working on?
A mystery!
Thank you to Mira Jacob!
Mira Jacob is the author of the memoir Good Talk and the novel The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing. She can be found on IG at @goodtalkthanks.
Leah Umansky is the author of three books of poems, most recently the forthcoming OF TYRANT, (The Word Works in 2024.) She is currently working on a memoir DELICATE MACHINE, an exploration of womanhood, hope, and heart in the face of grief and a global pandemic. She earned her MFA in Poetry at Sarah Lawrence College and has curated and hosted The COUPLET Reading Series in NYC since 2011. Her creative work can be found in such places as The New York Times, POETRY, The Bennington Review, The Academy of American Poets' Poem-A-Day and others. She can be found at www.leahumansky.com or @leah.umansky on IG.