Natasha Trethewey, one of the most preeminent and beloved writers of our time period, was born on April 26th, 1966, in Gulfport, Mississippi. Being born to an interracial relationship- a time period in which it was not accepted- many of the overarching themes present in her work reflect upon the prejudice and discrimination she faced. Trethewey was able to attend Hollins University in which she earned her MA in poetry, and attended University of Massachusetts where she earned her MFA in poetry. Trethewey is known to encompass her bodies of work through the ideologies of racial inequalities and familial background through free writes and sonnets- creating space for interpretations and being able to convey her message across to her intended audience.
During the early 2000’s, Trethewey was able to cement herself as a prominent figure in poetry: in 2000, her first anthology of poems, Domestic Work, depicts a narrative of what she experienced growing up, personal reflections based on her race, and stories recalling her childhood. Domestic Work was such an insightful, yet impactful piece, it was selected to be the inaugural Cave Canem Poetry Prize for being the best first book written by an African American woman. Additionally, Domestic Work was able to win two additional awards: the 2001 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letter Book Prize and the 2001 Lillian Smith for Poetry[1]. In 2002, Trethewey was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her anthology series of Bellocq’s Ophelia. In many of her poems, Trethewey’s style of writing can be described as “personal and national history to meditate on the conundrum of American racial identities. Whether writing of her complex family torn by tragic loss, or in diverse imagined voices from the more distant past, Trethewey encourages us to reflect, learn, and experience delight,” as stated by Marilyn Nelson[2]. On top of focusing on poetry, Trethewey was able to embark on the teaching track with Emory University as a Robert W. Woodruff Professor. Trethewey taught a Creative Writing workshop in the poetry concentration. She was able to publish more anthologies, as well as continuing on the teaching profession as she is now a part of the Board of Trustees Professor of English at Northwestern University. With the number of notable things Trethewey was able to immerse herself in terms of writing and teaching, it is reasonably conducted that she was able to organize her thoughts and creative ideas.
When considering the number of poems published as well as teaching her own curriculum, it gravitated me towards wanting to learn more about the work of Trethewey and trying to understand her creative process. In addition to seeing her creative process, being able to research Trethewey’s archives will provide me with insight on her own life, such as inspirations and influences on what motivated her to write such poems. This led me to do further research on her archives through the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, also known as the Rose Library. The Rose Library is a part of the Woodruff Library in which they keep many archives, such as rare and first editions of books, journals, and personal letters from prominent figures in the wide array of fields and concentrations. Upon exploring her archives in the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, I was able to stumble upon an archive that intrigued me: a series of journals that belonged to Natasha Trethewey. One looking in one specific journal, I was fascinated by the many notes she included. Many of these notes were just random occurrences that occurred in her day-to-day life. Other notes I found fascinating as they discussed potential drafts of poems she was working on: these notes consisted of having an outline of how she envisioned her poem, edits on poems that she was drafting, and annotations on certain lines, what they convey and how it can be improved. An example of this is that in her journal, she has a poem titled “Statement of Purpose.” “Statement of Purpose ” discusses her dad’s history on what he did in his younger years, how he met his wife and how it was such a controversial issue during the time as her dad is a White man and her mom is a Black woman. While reading this poem, I just couldn’t fathom how impactful the narrative was as the use of her words and vivid depictions helped me formulate an image in my head making the experience much more insightful[3]. What is even more interesting is that the poem was never published to the public, which makes me ponder on why she didn’t want to proceed with the process of publication. When skimming through the pages of the notebook, one page caught my attention with the label “for workshop.” This could be alluding to the workshop she was teaching at Emory University at the time. When reading the page, she included pointers she wanted to include when leading the discussion, her own analysis on the poems that were read for that day in class, and other thoughts. What I enjoyed from reading this was being able to see her creative process of not just writing poetry, but providing insight into her teaching style and how she planned on making it engaging, etc. Upon other intriguing aspects of the journal, there were some pages that were skipped for no apparent reason, hypotheticals that allowed room for her thoughts and creative processes, as well as a quote from Lucille Clifton[4]. All that was mentioned could be the many influences she’s had in her career, but most importantly allowed me to witness behind the scenes the many notable things she has done, which was proven to be a perspicacious experience.
After her teaching career in Emory University, Natasha Trethewey published more poems and anthologies showcasing the prolific writer she is. These publications include Thrall: Poems and Congregation each providing its own narrative and style. Additionally, Trethewey was able to receive numerous accolades such as the state poet laureate for Mississippi and 19th U.S. poet laureate by the Library of Congress in 2012. In 2016, she was also the recipient of the Academy of American Poets Fellowship. As was mentioned prior, she is now a teaching professor in Northwestern University, but has also had other previous teaching experience in institutes like Yale University. Trethewey still works on poetry and is planning on publishing more bodies of work.
(Unfortunately, you are not able to take photographs of Natasha Trethewey’s archives. It is a restriction Trethewey put and a regulation in the Rose Library. This is considered to be the first edition of her anthology Domestic Work.
[1] Academy of American Poets, 2023. “Natasha Trethewey.” Date Accessed October 30, 2023. https://poets.org/poet/natasha-trethewey
[2] Academy of American Poets, 2023. “Natasha Trethewey.” Date Accessed October 30, 2023. https://poets.org/poet/natasha-trethewey
[3] Natasha Trethewey Journals, No Date, Box 8, Folder 8, Personal Papers: Journals, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University Woodruff Library Services
[4] Natasha Trethewey Journals, No Date, Box 8, Folder 8, Personal Papers: Journals, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University Woodruff Library Services
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