Writers, particularly poets, always feel exiled in some way - people who don't exactly feel at home, so they try to find a home in language. Natasha Trethewey exilefeelfind Change image and share on social
People always want to be on the right side of history; it is a lot easier to say, 'What an atrocity that was' then it is to say, 'What an atrocity this is.' Natasha Trethewey atrocityeasyhistory Change image and share on social
I was always very aware of the nature of the place where I was growing up in Gulfport, Mississippi, how that place was shaping my experience of the world. I had to go to the Northeast for graduate school because I felt like I had to get far away from my South, be outside it, to understand it. Natasha Trethewey awareexperiencefelt share on social
It took me years of attempts and failed drafts before I finally wrote the elegies I needed to write. Natasha Trethewey attemptdraftelegy Change image and share on social
I think that as a poet, I am always concerned about history and baring witness to history. But so often, it's through the research that I do, the reading. Natasha Trethewey bareconcernhistory Change image and share on social
I've been most happy to be an advocate for the kinds of grassroots things that people are doing who care about poetry. Natasha Trethewey advocatecaregrassroots Change image and share on social
'NewsHour' is very interested in poetry, but they're also interested in not just that something's cute to add on at the end of their programming, but something that actually is integrated into the news. Natasha Trethewey addcuteend share on social
Poetry's a thing that belongs to everyone. Natasha Trethewey belongpoetrything Change image and share on social
One of two historically African American communities that sprang up along the Mississippi Gulf Coast after emancipation, North Gulfport has always been a place where residents have had fewer civic resources than those extended to other outlying communities. Natasha Trethewey africanamericancivic share on social
From the catbird seat, I've found poetry to be the necessary utterance it has always been in America. Natasha Trethewey americacatbirdfind Change image and share on social