Throughout National Poetry Month, we will be interviewing poets here and spotlighting them on our Instagram and YouTube channel. We hope you enjoy!
Writer’s Atelier: Why did you want to start writing poetry?
Tamara J. Madison: Writing poetry was quite natural for me because I love dance, music, rhythm and language (even foreign languages), so poetry was an easy groove to fall into and express all of these things. I also love a good story and the lessons that stories teach us. Melodic storytelling rich with rhythm thus became my focus.
WA: What’s your favorite poem (or poems!) that you’ve written and why?
TJM: I don’t have a single favorite poem that I have written because my poems grow/change as I do. It is always about expansion and growth in the craft. However, the first poem that comes to mind is “Raindancing.” It is based on a true story experiencing the illusion of writer’s block. I did not know what to write, so I wrote about the disappearance of my muse and how my returned. It is one of the poems in my latest book, Threed, This Road Not Damascus.
WA: Who are some of your favorite poets? Why do you like their work?
TJM: I have many favorite poets, and my favorite poet is often the poet that inspires me to push the envelope of my own work at the time or the poet who speaks to my soul with answers or “medicine.”
- Sterling D. Plumpp is a favorite poet because of the lush blues and jazz rhythms in his storytelling poetry.
- Sonia Sanchez is a favorite poet for me because she is fierce on the page and off the page with her craft and the way she loves life, poetry, and others.
- Ai is one of my favorite poets because she is the queen of persona poetry. She provokes me to be courageous and explore other voices.
- Toni Morrison is one of my favorite poets. What others call her fiction work is an expanded and extended poem for me. Her voice is lush with imagery and rhythm and explores the surreal and spiritual in ways that keep me returning to her work.
About the Poet
Tamara J. Madison is a poet, writer, and editor. Her work has been published and recorded in various journals, magazines, and anthologies including World Literature Today, Poetry International, Extract, Web del Sol Review of Books, Tidal Basin Review, and Mom Egg Review. Her work has also been published in the anthologies, SisterFire (HarperCollins), Temba Tupu (RedSea Press), and Check the Rhyme (LitNoire Press).
Her most recent poetry collection Threed, This Road Not Damascus is published by Trio House Press and was short-listed under the title, Breast Poems, in the 2015 Willow Books Literature Award. Threed, … has been reviewed in Poetry International, Cider Press Review, Empty Mirror Review, and Cordella Magazine. Tamara’s poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize (2012 and 2022) and for Best of the Net (2019). She is also the author of Collard County (short stories), Kentucky Curdled (poetry and essay), and Sistuh’s Sermon on the Mount (poetry chapbook).
Tamara is the creator and host of BREAKDOWN: The Poet & The Poems, a conversation series on YouTube to spread awareness of poets and their poetry as inspiration and motivation for everyday life. She has also shared her poetry on the TEDx platform. Tamara has performed and recorded her work for podcast, stage, television, and studio. She also facilitates creative writing workshops. She is a MFA graduate of New England College and an Anaphora Arts Fellow. She currently lives and writes in Florida and teaches college-level writing courses. For more information, visit www.tamarajmadison.com.
