Jesse Montoya is an acoustic finger style guitarist and singer songwriter from Jacksonville. She plays many venues and events, including The Riverside Arts Market, Rain Dogs, Downtown Art Walk, 1904 Music Hall, The Cummer Museum, Shanty Town Pub, Grape & Grain Exchange, and more.
Montoya’s first album, “Jesse Montoya, Guitar & Voice” debuted in the Fall of 2014. Getcha some!
Montoya recently attended the JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival for the first time, and submitted the following essay in response:
“I spent this past Saturday listening, and watching authors read their selected works. The first artist I heard was Rashad Hawkins. His work reflected a hard youth growing up in northeast Florida. The poem that spoke to me was titled, “32209”, a zip code from my home city. The piece lists names of rough neighborhoods all over Duval county, and the experiences Hawkins associates with them.
Having grown up in Jacksonville, I also have memories here. Most of them have very little in common with Hawkins. Cultural differences have an influence in this comparison. Even so, one of the lines in the poem, “adored and feared Springfield, before it was colonized, I mean gentrified” resonated with me. I have lived in Springfield the past three years and I adore it. I have never feared it.
The neighborhood of Springfield is becoming gentrified more each day. I’m not sure how I feel about this. Gentrification is inadvertently started by artists and younger generations. Creative people move to areas with big spaces and low rent. Springfield is exactly this, or was. After the artists and millennials move in, the upper class, well to do, get a whiff of a chance to buy cheap, remodel, and sell for profit. At least that’s how I understand the beginnings of gentrification. After that it is downhill from there. Property value goes up, and the families that have lived there for generations are forced to sell or move, caused by skyrocketing rent.
I do not agree with raising rent for people who have lived in a neighborhood all their lives or creating an atmosphere where locals feel unwelcome. I do agree with living side by side, living in peace, living together, and not forcing anyone out. I wish this idea was more prevalent.
Hawkin’s poems brought up many social injustices, and connections with this city, this county. I thought about the effects of gentrification, cultural differences, and the many problems that still need to be solved in this racially unequal land of opportunity. I respect Hawkin’s unique, powerful voice, and hope he continues to write.
The second artist I heard read was Laura Hoffman. Her delivery was fast, and unforgiving. The poems were raw, and uncensored. She seemed to be surprised when the audience clapped at the end of her pieces.
Her subjects were centered around her experiences, and things she had read. Hoffman’s works are not published so I could not find them to reference. However, I remember one clearly. She prefaced the piece with an anecdote about a unique medical condition that can happen to a child in the womb. The fetus dies and calcifies like a stone in the mother’s uterus.
It was an interesting and creepy idea. The poem described a mother experiencing deep emotional turmoil, caused by a calcified child. It was such an intriguing poem I researched the effects of this condition. They were gruesome, as I had suspected. I hope Laura will publish her pieces soon so I can revisit her work.
The literary arts festival was an inspiring and educational event. I’m glad I attended. Hearing works read aloud or hearing spoken word in a live setting is a rarity in Jacksonville. Live readings let the work become spirited, not only through the author, but in the setting, and reaction of the audience. This kind of interaction between authors, poets, and their audiences is crucial to a creative world and needs to be preserved. Events such as, “Jax by Jax”, are making this possible and assuring that literature be more accessible to our community.”
Thanks for your thoughtful response, Jesse!