Thiahera Nurse, Writer

Thiahera Nurse is a poet and educator from Hollis,Queens. Her work can be found in The Offing, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. She is a 2018 Poets House Fellow. She received her MFA from the University of Wisconsin. Her chapbook "Some Girls Survive On Their Sorcery Alone" is available now. She writes for the black girls.

TAP Work:

"Participating in TAP this year was fulfilling and helped guide me to some of the questions that I think are important for teaching artist to consider. How can I use empathy and compassion to empower my students as scholars and community leaders? Why is it important to decolonize myself right now? By building lessons with my TAP family and having honest conversation about responsibility, I have a clearer sense of who I need to become as an educator."

Most Memorable TAP Moment:

"We played a game where we had to move around the space, and partner up with someone who was in the room to create a standstill portrait with our bodies to signify an emotion like "love" or 'joy". The point was to stand still---except my partner and I were so excited that we both started jumping around! The emotion was joy! I love feeling free to play and be myself. Often, I can only be my most free around my family and friends, but TAP provided a compassionate space where I felt like I could really live into who I am while being supported."

Find out more about Thiahera here:

• Some Girls Survive on Their Sorcery Alone: Poems (Drinking Gourd Chapbook Poetry Prize)

• Some Girls Survive on Their Sorcery Alone (Poems)