In a new series for "A Collection of Quaint Intensities", I talk to poets to discuss life, writing, and everything in between. Our second poet is Tyler Auston Jones, who describes himself as "Black writer based in Atlanta, GA who writes about Blackness, intimacy, and identity."
Phoenix Tesni: Tell us about your upcoming book!
T.A. Jones: Obsidian Sun is a book I’ve been working on for the past two years. I originally came up with the idea when I kept returning to this phrase my family told me: “Black people are the people of the sun.” It resonated with me. Since I started writing poetry, celestial bodies—in particular, the sun, moon, and stars—have been the primary analogies for my poetry. Once I had that phrase from my youth, the sun and stars became the main subjects, along with fire and burns. Black people in America influence the masses and shine so brightly, yet have so much trauma attached to the culture. This poetry book has four chapters: fire, burns, stars, and the Sun. I want to speak on these experiences using the imagery of these subjects along with rhythm, rhyme, and reason.
That’s such a lovely phrase! I know that you worked with REVOLT for their “Imagine if” series campaign for Black History Month. I’m interested in learning more about that and how your identity as a Black person impacts all the work you do in creative circles.
It was a great opportunity. It came about when I was approached by Isha Thorpe, who works at REVOLT. We originally connected a year or two ago when I was the writer for a REVOLT Instagram comic called A to Z. The idea was to create stories focused on Afrofuturism. Often, in fantasy or sci-fi, creators forget that BIPOC people can exist, almost as if they don’t expect us to be there. There can be aliens, but no people of color. The campaign was to change that idea.
My Blackness is something I appreciate about myself daily. I equally celebrate and cope with it. It’s fascinating how your culture can be celebrated all around the world and at the forefront of innovation in art, but then you’re feared, marginalized, and systematically suppressed. I want to speak for us and listen to us. I can’t talk unless I listen. From those listening and speaking sessions, I can write and create.
I think most people of color would understand how courageous, yet necessary it is to not only make peace with a marginalized identity, but also to honor it in ways that feel authentic and true. It’s brilliant that you’ve not only done that, but have also found ways to let it give direction to your creative work in new and innovative ways.
You’ve also worked as a music journalist and podcaster for CentralSauce. How has that influenced your poetry?
Immensely. I have another book containing poems influenced by songs, lyrics, music videos, and albums. The collective at CentralSauce pushed each other to write better. We all still keep in contact and chat. They’re real friends to me and influencers of my work. We support and push each other. I became a better editor and was able to handle critiques with the mindset that they wanted to help me grow and not knock me down. The artists I met inspired poems and still do to this day.
Community can be so influential when it comes to art. You work as an ELA teacher now. How much does that impact your life and reflect in the work you do? Will you consider publishing something for children someday?
The honor of being a teacher has been a blessing. Initially, I was a preschool and early education teacher. I wrote a few poems and made up little songs during my time with them. Transitioning from that to middle school ELA was different, but not too much. I can empathize with the modern teen and preteen. I see them, and they see me. We create conversation and understanding amongst each other. They also influence the characters I write and storyboard. I’m not sure if I’ll even publish a children’s book, but I’d love to give it a shot. Whatever I do, I just want to leave a story with a positive impact.
Which writers, authors and poets do you consider your biggest inspirations?
Langston Hughes is definitely the poet who influenced my writing in elementary school when I had to recite the work A Dream Deferred. Tupac Shakur is another one. In college, I did a whole poetry project on him for my poetry class. I even wrote three poems in his style. Kendrick Lamar will always influence my work. Lastly, Bell Hooks has influenced my work in the past few years. Every line I read from her strikes a chord that will resonate and resound for days.
You’ve mentioned that you enjoy playwriting and screenwriting alongside poetry. What do you think is the best part of writing a play? How different is it from writing a poem or a story?
I love people. Truly and honestly, I do. Plays let us examine them. One place/location and we just get to hear actors play people in situations. How do they react to something or someone? They don’t get to automatically go somewhere. They have to deal with it. The conflict is here. Let them feel it and work their way through it. That exploration of character is lovely to witness and write.
Have any of these projects made their way to the screen or a stage?
No, they have not, except for the ones produced in college. I do have something in the works, though. One piece I’ve also been working on for years is the stage play adaptation of Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, by Kendrick Lamar, called M.A.A.D. I also wrote a play based on Channel Orange by Frank Ocean.
What are your aspirations as a creative? How far do you think you are to these aspirations?
I’m not sure. I know that may seem like a non-answer but I truly don’t know. I think my ultimate goal is to write my name in the heart of someone. Anyone who will be affected will start to create for themselves. I guess I just want to inspire and be heard. Writing is what we think and feel. Someone could listen to me all day, but I might talk in circles. But if they read what I’ve written, they’ve read me. They’ve seen me. Would being a Kaur, Coates, Baldwin, or Angelou be awesome? Hell yeah, but I think I could die happy just being remembered and being someone who inspired someone.
That’s a fair answer. If those are your aspirations, I think we can easily say that you’ve reached them already and are continuing to reach them everyday.
Now: I’m doing a pass-it-on question at the end where each poet passes on a question to the next person being interviewed. Your question, from Heaven Joy, author and poet, is —“Would you ever write characters that symbolize your inner-child or future-self, so that you could understand or “speak” to them?”
I would. I think I have at times in pieces. I’ve been to therapy. I want to go at a regular frequency again. I want to heal parts of me so I don’t pass it down to my kids or younger family members or any child I happen to interact with. I believe writing can heal and hopefully I’m doing that to myself whenever I pick up a pen.
What question would you like to pass on to the next person?
When it’s all said and done, what do you want your words to say about you, and what do you hope they don’t say about you?
Thank you for your time!
Tyler Auston, T.A., Jones (he/him) is a Black poet/writer based in Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from Western Carolina University with a bachelors in English and minor in Creative Writing. He currently works as a middle school ELA teacher, blogger for Three Panel Press, and hybrid intern editor for Abode Press. Tyler also enjoys playwriting, screenwriting, and poetry. He’s finishing his first poetry compilation, Obsidian Sun, and chapbook, Before & After I Got Help.
Phoenix Tesni (she/her) is a poet & multidisciplinary artist. A Best Small Fictions finalist and Best of The Net nominee, her works also appear in Surging Tide, Limelight Review, Sage Cigarettes, Celestite Poetry, and many other places. Once she worked in hospitality management and teaching, now her life revolves around consuming, curating, and creating art. Her latest projects include “darling, mister graphophone”, a short experimental film, and “Water”, a digital interactive fiction game. When she’s not immersed in creation, you will often find her watching a South Korean film, or petting a cat.
If you're a poet and would like to nominate yourself for this series, please fill out your application here.
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