Movers & Thinkers #12: The Poet In The Family

We interview Tiana Clark, a poet from Nashville.

Tiana has been tackling uncomfortable truths for years, ever since she wrote in her diary as a child that she hated her mom (who then discovered the writing). Now, she’s is a nationally lauded poet from Nashville who is the author of Equilibrium, a book of poetry published in 2016. She has a forthcoming poem in The New Yorker.

“I want to talk about the elephant in the room. I want to talk about the uncomfortable things,” Tiana says. “I think that’s why it’s hard to have a poet in the family.”

This is a break from the typical Movers & Thinkers format, when Emily interviews three people around a certain theme in front of a live audience. This interview goes deep — talking about Tiana’s fascination with religion and sex, her desire to write about race, and why it’s hard to be the poet in the family.

Here are the full text of poems in the episode:

• “Exorcism”
• “Soil Horizon”
• “Equilibrium”