Tara-Elizabeth Downs

Debut: December 2017

Books: Sweet Thorns (2017)

Some writers enjoy conjuring up words for a desired effect but not Tara-Elizabeth Downs, a literary artist who doesn’t summon their poems but is rather summon by them. Tara is but a messenger for stanzas determined to exist, believing the best way to listen to people is to observe them when they are not speaking. It so happens that this is also the best way to understand Tara’s work, where the crux of the content is exclaimed between the lines.

Tara cofounded Hummingbirds, a sisterhood blog for Jamaican women to air their hearts and voices. Their commitment to creating this female safe zone stems from an acute awareness that there are not nearly enough of these spaces.