A Cup of Coffee with Tala Woods
Tala Woods (she/her) is an English-Syrian-Irish poet based in the UK, whose work focuses on identity, culture, love and everyday life. Tala’s poetry and articles have been published by publications such as Train River Publishing, By Me Poetry, Global Comment and CHERRYBOY Magazine. Before the pandemic, she ran poetry workshops offline (and online during lockdowns) which received extremely positive and rewarding feedback. Tala is also the co-founder of The Soft Approach (@thesoftapproach), a zine that aims to tackle tough issues with a soft approach. Before the pandemic, the poet ran poetry workshops offline (and online during lockdowns) which received extremely positive and rewarding feedback. You can find her work on Instagram (@talawrites).
When did you become a poet? How did you know it was the right medium for your stories?
I come from a family of writers, readers and academics… so I feel as if it was almost natural for me to head in some kind of creative – particularly literary – direction. Poetry is a very wonderful form to express emotion or creativity in. I’ve always loved art… but never felt I could express myself the way I could when writing. I wrote a lot of prose and short stories for a while, and then properly spent time reading poetry. Poetry had trickled into the literature I had read over the years, but despite my love for it, I never felt confident as a writer until a few years ago, which is when I started writing poetry with the intention of it being a huge part of my life.
What are you working on next/what was your last project?
I’m currently working on the debut issue for The Soft Approach (@thesoftapproach on Instagram), which is a zine aiming to tackle tough issues with a soft approach. Sacha (@mysticillustrations) came to me with the idea of creating a zine together, and then we met River (@solaceriver) as our Creative Director as we knew they had to be involved. They’re both such beautiful and talented humans, and it’s an honour to work with them. Our debut issue will be about periods and is titled “Riding the Crimson Wave” and it’ll be released by the end of July.
Besides that, I’ve got lots of exciting collaborations with poets, artists and creatives in the next few months…
Tag three of your favourite IG poets we should read:
@lourowpoet, @aqueerpoet & @_etherealtruth
What are some common themes you see in your own work?
Identity, culture, love, life. Basically, I write a lot about experiences and try to extend them out in a way that hopefully the people who read it can take something from it.
How do you beat writer's block?
You don’t! You let it do its thing, read other work in the meantime and try and attend some online or real-life poetry workshops, and it’ll come back to you when it's ready or when it’s right. It always does.
Do you feel that sharing your poetry is a vulnerable process?
Absolutely. It’s sharing your secrets, your thoughts, your deepest feelings for the whole world to see. Whenever you write something and then share that with the world, you’re revealing parts of yourself for everyone to see. It’s vulnerable, but really extremely rewarding and beautiful.
Do you take poetry classes or read books on poetry?
I love taking poetry workshops. I loved taking them throughout the first lockdown in the UK, and it allowed me to meet so many wonderful people and creatives who have become wonderful friends of mine. Poetry workshops always help me get out of a writer’s block, and it’s always such a good way to get out there and share your work.
Do family and "real life" friends read your work?
Both. And I feel really lucky to have friends who are talented poets, writers, artists designers… so I feel like there’s a vast variety of people I can ask if I want an honest opinion on a piece of work. My mum is a very talented writer and always is so supportive of what I do and reads a lot of my work both online and offline.
What does "good poetry" mean to you?
Good poetry for me means the ability to feel seen by a poem. Good poetry is where you can read a line in a poem and feel like you’re feeling heartbreak all over again, or reliving a memory, time or place. Good poetry is the kind of poetry that almost makes you feel vulnerable just by having read it. Good poetry reaches into your soul unapologetically.
What is your writing process like?
It’ll always start with a sentence I’ve heard somewhere – which I’ll then take and write a poem about. Sometimes it includes the original word or phrase/quote, or sometimes it’ll just be a source of inspiration. Writing is also therapeutic for me, so sometimes it will just be my thoughts turned into poems.