The 826 team is so excited to welcome and introduce you to our new Program Manager, Kush Thompson. Kush is a native Chicagoan and is bringing diverse experiences in writing, education, and youth empowerment to the team. Read more about her below!
First & Last Name: Kush Thompson Pronouns: She/Her Job Title: Program Manager Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
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What brought you to 826 New Orleans?
I’ve lived my whole life as a writer and have yet to figure out what life is not surrounded by other writers. You need the company of folks who love what you love in order to keep doing what you love. 826 NOLA prioritizes this art form and uses it in the service of the New Orleans community. It’s exactly the kind of organization that 4th grade me would’ve sought out and tried to join.
What are you most excited for as our new Program Manager?
I’m most excited about meeting all of the young writers and learning everything I need to know about this city through their storytelling. As a Chicagoan, my love runs deep for my misunderstood city. New Orleans and Chicago share that similarity and the love for this city is so deep amongst everyone, but especially the young folks. I feel like I could never know New Orleans properly until I see the way its children write about it. That’s what I can’t wait for.
What was your favorite book as a kid, and why?
My favorite book was and pretty much still is Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. The main character was a role model for me in the 5th grade when I felt very alone at school. Stargirl reassured me that it’s better to be weird than to blend in. It’s also beautifully written and was one of the first models I used for my own work as a young writer. It’s one I come back to at least once a year.
What are you up to outside of your work with us?
Outside of 826, I paint pink-haired cartoon characters and collect, probably too many, VHS tapes and original Goosebumps books.
If you were a ghost for a day, where would you most like to haunt?
I would love more than anything to haunt an amusement park. Six Flags during Fright Fest, hands down.
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Kush Thompson is the author of A Church Beneath the Bulldozer (2014) and creator of the pink-haired Blk Hottie portraiture series. Kush served the Chicago community as former chapter co-chair of Black Youth Project 100 Chicago and as a longtime educator for Young Chicago Authors’ Teaching Artist Corps.
A 2017 Luminarts Creative Writing Fellow and 2018 Cave Canem fellow, her work can be found in Poetry Magazine and The Breakbeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop (2015). Kush herself can be found in the VHS bin at any given thrift store somewhere in New Orleans.
