Publishing History

Jake is a published poet, environmental/travel essayist, and spiritual writer. His work has appeared in magazines, newspapers, literary/academic journals, and spiritual/religious periodicals in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and India. He was also the Co-Founder and Editorial Director of the avant-garde travel magazine, Modern Nomad, where he introduced “place-based writing” and the moniker “Modern Nomad” to a wider audience.

Conscious Alternative Origins

While attending undergraduate school in Florida, Jake published the alternative zine Phage. He was also the head of public relations for the ecological organization T.R.E.E.S., which worked to preserve wetlands and coastal scrubland in Northeast Florida. These two endeavors led him to receive a scholarship to the Z Media Alternative Journalism Institute where he studied with renowned author and linguist Noam Chomsky, journalist and author Barbara Ehrenreich, and the host of National Alternative Radio David Barsamian.

During his graduate studies in San Francisco, Jake met and interacted with many prominent members of the Beat and Post-Beat generation of writers, including David Meltzer and Neeli Cherkovski. (He continued those relationships by publishing work by Beat stalwarts Lawrence Ferlinghetti, A.D. Winans, and Neeli Cherkovski in Places “the magazine for the modern nomad”.) Jake also worked as a feature writer for the global music culture magazine, Revolution, which allowed him to research and compose articles throughout the United States and Europe.

In 2001, Jake co-founded Places “the magazine for the modern nomad”, which evolved into Modern Nomad magazine.  It was the first magazine to explore “place” and “living nomadically” in a holistic way, and it became the printed muse that inspired the global “Modern Nomad” movement that still thrives today.  During his time as Editorial Director, Jake was interviewed by CNN, Canadian Elle magazine, and was a featured guest on many regional NPR shows, including several appearances on Conversations with Jean Feraca produced in Madison, Wisconsin.

Readings, Collaborations, and Performances

Jake has been blessed to be a featured poet/author at a number of culturally relevant venues throughout the United States and Canada, including: The Bush Auditorium at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, The Poet’s Loft in Hot Springs, Arkansas, The Henry Miller Library in Big Sur, California, Art House Gallery and Cultural Center in Berkeley, California, and Manson’s Community Hall on Cortes Island, B.C., Canada, to name a few.

Due to his great love of music and artistic collaboration, he has recorded and performed his literary work with a number of wonderful musicians, including the internationally renowned jazz pianist, Eddie Higgins. Their jazz and poetry album, Miami Session, is available on this website.  (Listen to “Happy Thanksgiving” in the above window.)

One of the central goals of Jake’s readings/performances is to help raise money for various charities, including those who work with homeless people, abused women, and at-risk youth.

Writing Residencies

Being selected for several writing residencies has allowed Jake to be part of creative community-building, to foster creativity in at-risk urban youth, to collaborate with artists of different backgrounds and mediums of expression, and to be inspired by and present his work in various locations. He has been a writer-in-residence for the InsideOut Literary Arts Project in Detroit, at La Serrania Retreat Centre in Spain, for The Grunewald Guild in the state of Washington, and for the Stony Point Center in New York. 

CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINKS TO READ SAMPLES OF JAKE’S PUBLISHED WORK: 

San Francisco Is

First Class Literary Journal

The Solace and Refinement of Heat

Abraxas Review

Ashland Autumn

Slow Trains Literary Journal

Periodicals that have Published Jake’s Writing:

SUFI: Journal of Mystical Philosophy and Practice, Cistercian Studies Quarterly, The Bangalore Review, Abraxas Review, First Class Literary Magazine, Work Literary Magazine, Aji Literary Magazine, Slow Trains Literary Journal, The Flagler Review, Bywords: Ottawa, Stone Voices Journal, Phage, Pudding Magazine: The Journal of Applied Poetics, Birmingham Magazine, Tuscaloosa Magazine, The Tuscaloosa News, The St. Augustine Record, Outside In Literary and Travel Magazine, Revolution Magazine, Beatdom: A Journal dedicated to the study of the Beat Generation, and Canary: A Literary Journal of the Environmental Crisis.