My name is Natasha Trethewey, and I was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, in 1966, exactly 100 years to the day that Mississippi celebrated the first Confederate Memorial Day, April 26, 1866. Natasha Trethewey aprilbearcelebrate Change image and share on social
I want to be the best advocate and promoter for poetry that I can be. Natasha Trethewey advocatepoetrypromoter Change image and share on social
The experience of poetry could bring my mother back to me. Poetry offers a different kind of solace - here on earth. Natasha Trethewey backbringearth Change image and share on social
When I write notes in my journal, I'm just trying to scribble down as much as possible. Later on, I decide whether to follow some of those first impressions or whether to abandon them. Natasha Trethewey abandondecidefollow Change image and share on social
The more I've gotten interested in writing about history and making sense of myself within the continuum of history, the more I've turned to paintings, to art. I look to the imagery of art to help me understand something about my own place in the world. Natasha Trethewey artcontinuumhave share on social
My father is a poet, my stepmother is a poet, and so I always had encouragement as a child to write. Natasha Trethewey childencouragementfather Change image and share on social
I am interested in 18th century natural philosophy, science, particularly botany, the study of hybridity in plants and animals, which, of course, then allows me to consider the hybridity of language. Natasha Trethewey 18thanimalbotany Change image and share on social
Often as a poet I find that I am somewhat outside an experience I want to hold onto, consciously taking mental notes or writing them down in my journal - for fear that I will forget. It's not unlike being on a trip and taking pictures, your face behind a camera the whole time - the entire experience mediated by a lens. Natasha Trethewey cameraconsciouslyentire share on social
My mother was murdered by my step-father, my brother's father, who was also named Joel, twenty-five years ago. Whatever sadness or burden I've been living with since then, my brother's also been living with, but he's lived with the added burden of having the exact same name as our mother's murderer. Natasha Trethewey addagobrother share on social
My own journey in becoming a poet began with memory - with the need to record and hold on to what was being lost. One of my earliest poems, 'Give and Take,' was about my Aunt Sugar, how I was losing her to her memory loss. Natasha Trethewey auntbeginearly share on social