Tiana Clark
Tiana Clark | |
|---|---|
 Clark at the 2025 Texas Book Festival | |
| Education | Tennessee State University Vanderbilt University |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Writing career | |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Notable works |
|
| Notable awards | |
| Website | www |
Tiana Clark is an American poet. She is the author of the chapbook Equilibrium (2016) and the poetry collections I Can't Talk About the Trees Without the Blood (2018) and Scorched Earth (2025). Her honors include the Rattle Poetry Prize, a Pushcart Prize, and the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, among others.[1][2] In 2025, Scorched Earth was a finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry.[3]
Early life and education
Clark was raised in Nashville, Tennessee, and southern California.[1] She earned a B.A. in Africana and Women's Studies from Tennessee State University and an M.F.A. from Vanderbilt University.[1][2]
Career
While a student at Vanderbilt, Clark served on the staff of the Nashville Review, first as an assistant poetry editor and later as poetry editor.[4][5] In 2015, she won the Rattle Poetry Prize for her poem "Equilibrium".[6] The poem later became the title poem of her chapbook Equilibrium, which was selected by Afaa Michael Weaver for the 2016 Frost Place Chapbook Competition and published by Bull City Press.[1][7]
Clark's first full-length collection, I Can't Talk About the Trees Without the Blood, was published by the University of Pittsburgh Press in 2018 after winning the 2017 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize.[2][7] The book was reviewed by The Kenyon Review, the Nashville Scene, and Full Stop.[8][9][10] The book later received the 2020 Kate Tufts Discovery Award.[11]
Clark's poem "The Ayes Have It" was adapted into a Motionpoems short film directed by Savanah Leaf.[12] Her poem "BBHMM" received a 2019 Pushcart Prize.[1][13] Her poetry and prose have appeared in publications including The New Yorker, Poetry, Kenyon Review, New England Review, and Best New Poets 2015.[1]
Clark has taught creative writing at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and the Sewanee School of Letters. She is the Grace Hazard Conkling Writer-in-Residence at Smith College.[14][2][15]
Scorched Earth (poetry collection)
Clark's second full-length collection, Scorched Earth, was published by Washington Square Press in 2025.[2][7]
Reception
Scorched Earth received critical attention. In a review for Chapter 16, Emily Choate wrote that Clark "takes emotional and formal risks" in the collection.[16] In GBH, Callie Crossley described the book as "blending history, race, gender, and grief" in intimate poems.[17] Time included the book on its list of The 100 Must-Read Books of 2025, calling it a work of grief, Black joy, vulnerability, and survival.[18] The collection was a finalist for the 2025 National Book Award for Poetry.[3]
Awards and honors
- 2015 Rattle Poetry Prize[6]
- 2016 Academy of American Poets University Prize[5]
- 2017 Furious Flower's Gwendolyn Brooks Centennial Poetry Prize[5]
- 2019 Pushcart Prize[1]
- 2019 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship[2][13]
- 2020 Kate Tufts Discovery Award[11]
- 2025 National Book Award for Poetry finalist for Scorched Earth[3]
Bibliography
Chapbook
- Equilibrium. Bull City Press, 2016. ISBN 9781495157646
Poetry collections
- I Can't Talk About the Trees Without the Blood. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2018. ISBN 9780822965589
- Scorched Earth. Washington Square Press, 2025. ISBN 9781668052075
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Tiana Clark". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "About Tiana Clark". Academy of American Poets. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "2025 National Book Awards Finalists Announced". National Book Foundation. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
- ↑ "Spring 2017 Masthead". Nashville Review. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Furious Flower announces winners of national poetry contest honoring Gwendolyn Brooks". James Madison University. May 2, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
- 1 2 "Best Bards: Accolades for Vanderbilt Poets". Vanderbilt University. October 23, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Tiana Clark". National Book Foundation. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
- ↑ Oleson, Claire. "On I Can't Talk About the Trees Without the Blood by Tiana Clark". The Kenyon Review. Retrieved April 7, 2026.
- ↑ Choate, Emily (September 6, 2018). "Trauma Runs Throughout Tiana Clark's Debut Poetry Collection". Nashville Scene. Retrieved April 7, 2026.
- ↑ Good, Mike. "I Can't Talk about the Trees without the Blood – Tiana Clark". Full Stop. Retrieved April 7, 2026.
- 1 2 "2020 Kingsley & Kate Tufts Poetry Awards Go to Ariana Reines and Tiana Clark". Claremont Graduate University. February 25, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
- ↑ "Video: The Ayes Have It". Poets & Writers. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
- 1 2 "Tiana Clark". National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
- ↑ "Tiana Clark". Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
- ↑ "Tiana Clark". Smith College. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
- ↑ Choate, Emily (March 3, 2025). "What the Long Poem Says About Me". Chapter 16. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
- ↑ Crossley, Callie (April 4, 2025). "Poet Tiana Clark pairs gut-wrenching imagery with accessible language in Scorched Earth". GBH. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
- ↑ Schneid, Rebecca (November 12, 2025). "Scorched Earth". Time. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
External links
