We were lucky to catch up with Natalie Tisler recently and have shared our conversation below.
Natalie , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
A significant part of my poetry journey has been learning and developing my style as a writer. In the early stages of writing poems, it was something so personal that I wasn’t sharing it with anyone. I think for me this allowed me to really develop my voice and discover what I personally liked because I wasn’t inhibited by anything external. I was able to become confident injecting my voice into a poem, breaking up stanzas in a way I felt was most impactful and seeing which literary devices I felt most connected to.
I learned that for me, my poetry is all about storytelling. I loved that poetry allowed me to bring words to life and paint a precise picture. I was so intrigued that just a few words were capable of producing such strong emotions. I read, listen and write poetry constantly and feel my skills as a writer improving anytime I pick up a pen to write or flip to a new page to read.
An obstacle that stood in my way was the fear of putting my poetry out into the world for others to read and critique. My poems are quite personal; while they touch on experiences many of us share: new love, heartbreak, loneliness, self-growth and many other topics, it was definitely a hurdle for me to start publishing them in literary journals and on social media. Now I really enjoy that people can connect with my work and take something away from it, but in the beginning that was a scary next step in my journey as a poet.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Natalie Tisler and I’m a New York City based free verse poet. I enjoy conveying a variety of themes, experiences and emotions through poetry. I have been published in a variety of journals including: The Whisky Blot, Discretionary Love, Black Poppy Review, Young Ravens Literary Review and Poetry Breakfast. I am also excited to share that my poem “Water Lilies” will be featured in the WestWard Quarterly this spring.
At the center of my poetry you will find imagery building language that transports the reader into the heart of my poems. I also enjoy exploring metaphors often through nature. As a nature lover myself, I find that many of our life experiences share striking similarities with the earth and world around us.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
I think the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is the ability to create something tangible that shows exactly who you are. My poetry allows me to show myself how I feel about a certain situation or topic sometimes even before I fully understand how I feel. It’s rewarding to have creative output that helps me process life and be honest with myself . My poem “I Write What I Cannot Say” published in The Whisky Blot is a poem depicting what writing poetry feels like to me.
I Write What I Cannot Say
My hand
Writes faster than my brain thinks
But it has yet to get something wrong
It rips on the paper
Wishing it could gash
Through pages
Let ink bleed aimlessly
Words stare back at me
Judge and juror
Sentencing me
To face the emotions
I work tirelessly to ignore
For me, poetry has helped me continually grow as an individual, friend, family member and human being. The perspective it allows me to have on my own life is refreshing.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My goal when writing every poem is to evoke a feeling. Whether it be my own emotions or those of a reader, my goal is to create a piece that can affect emotion. If it’s a poem of heartbreak, I want the poem to be able to make my heart feel heavy; if it’s an ode to the magnificent world around us, I want to feel gratitude for being alive; and if it’s a poem about new love, I want to feel the butterflies churn in my stomach. We live in a world where there is so much content ready for consumption, my mission is to provide content that will make people pause and feel something within themselves.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://natalietisler.com
- Instagram: @natalietisler
- Twitter: @natalietisler
- Other: TikTok: @natalietisler
