Jacob Dodson’s road to poetry and performance began in high school, when he wrote really bad poetry. It was sad and depressing and poorly-written. Over time all of that changed, then someone introduced him to a microphone and he starting gearing his poems towards performance. A few years later, Jacob has used his humor, wit and candor to establish himself as one of the most entertaining and engaging poets in Austin.
Never afraid to push his poetic boundaries, he has seen success in varied fields. He has featured around Austin and central Texas and is the current Head to Head Haiku National Champion as well as Austin Poetry Slam Haiku champion and Mic Check Erotic slam champion. In 2010 he placed 2nd at the at the O. Henry Pun-Off in addition to winning the McCluggan Memorial Most Viable Punster. In 2011 he was the Austin Poetry Slam Nerd Slam champion. In both 2012 and 2013 he created and performed in shows selected for FronteraFest’s Best of Fest lineups and qualified for Austin Poetry Slam’s B-Sides Southern Fried team. Most recently he qualified for Austin Neo Soul’s 2013 nationals team.
Outside of poetry, Jacob does various freelance writing and marketing work, received an expenses-paid trip to compete in a gift-wrapping competition in NYC, has performed for The Encyclopedia Show Austin, BedPost Confessions, and many other shows, and has helped teach creative writing workshops volunteering with Austin Bat Cave.