We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Camille T. McDaniel. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Camille T. below.
Alright, Camille T. thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Some of the most interesting parts of our journey emerge from areas where we believe something that most people in our industry do not – do you have something like that?
I’m not sure I believe that there’s such a thing as “bad” poetry or a “bad” poem. Of course, there are poems that are offensive or morally questionable—those aren’t the poems I’m talking about. I’m referring to this idea, that largely comes from academic spaces, that poetry has to meet a certain standard of complexity or poshness. That “simple” poems don’t represent the “best” of poetry. I put those words in quotations because these ideas are subjective. What is simple to one might not represent what is simple to another. That’s why I think it’s unproductive to try to force a universal standard upon such a fluid artform.
To me, the practice of poetry—that journey toward individual and communal release, toward understanding oneself and the contexts in which we exist—is more valuable than the poem itself. One of my favorite things about poetry is the opportunity to invent my own language and create my own rules. The page is where I feel the most free and real. It’s one of a few spaces where, as a Black-queer-disabled woman, no one else has any say in what I do and how I do it—unless I want them to. There’s a great sense of agency that can be experienced through writing poetry. So who am I, who are we to try to infringe upon another poet’s freedom by holding their work up against a sort of grading rubric that probably shouldn’t exist in the first place?
In my opinion, “good,” or rather, effective poems are the ones that bring to at least one person a sense of connection, pleasure, security—of feeling seen, understood, and not alone. I guess what I’m trying to say is, if you don’t like a poem, then that’s it. That doesn’t mean it’s “bad” or doesn’t add value to the greater poetic canon. Perhaps that poem wasn’t meant for you. Perhaps you just weren’t mean to be its witness.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m a Portland, OR-based poet, poetry editor, and marketing copywriter. I went to Boston University to study advertising, where I ended up taking my first poetry class after having, for many years, secretly written poetry to try to process the grief and anxiety that I’ve carried for most of my life. I remember being so nervous on my first day of that class, but I soon realized how supportive and nonjudgmental of a space that class would be. I continued to write poetry, mostly in private, occasionally sending drafts to my classmates.
In 2021, I met the person who would become my teacher, mentor, and the driving force behind my first full-length collection of poetry. I sat next to the legendary Long Beach, CA-poet Tommy Domino at a reading in Venice, CA. After I read, he turned to me and asked, “Do you have a book published?”.
Soon after that initial meeting, I was applying and interviewing for a spot in Community Literature Initiative’s poetry publishing class, where Tommy is the Long Beach chapter instructor. I spent 10 months in community with incredible, passionate poets, studying the craft and developing our manuscripts together. It was with CLI that I fell in love with the communal aspect of poetry and truly recognized the power poetry has in holding communities together in times of love and despair.
Today when I write, it’s still for me, but the communities I exist within are always at the front of my mind. I am always writing for my ancestors, for Black women, for queer kids who are hearing every Sunday that they are sin, for the disabled people who endure the violence of living in an ableist society. My one goal as a poet is to remind my people that they are not alone. That we are beautiful, powerful, resilient, and deserving of everything.
Since graduating from CLI, I’ve published my debut, full-length collection Blood, Skin, and Water (World Stage Press, 2024). I’ve competed and placed in multiple local slams and was a member of the 2024 Portland Poetry Slam team. Though slam and spoken word poetry have a special place in my heart, it’s book poetry that lights my fire. I’m currently working to get my poetry publishing business off the ground. In the meantime, I offer poem and manuscript editing support to poets aspiring to be published.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding part of being a poet is learning that my work has impacted a reader/audience member in some way. I remember the first time I read Homie by Danez Smith. I was in a difficult place mentally and physically. I ended up reading the whole book in one sitting because every poem, even the heart-wrenching ones, held me so tenderly. It was the first time I read a book of poetry that spoke straight to my soul. I’m so grateful for poets like Danez who create and share with such honesty when they don’t have to. I aspire to be like my poetry greats in that way, and I hope to bring my audience something they’ve been looking for—a sense of familiarity, an affirmation, a laugh, whatever.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I’m currently in the early stages of starting Portland, OR’s only Black-woman-owned poetry publishing house. Named after my great-grandmother, the first published author in my family, Benniefairy Books prioritizes the perspectives of writers who are often overlooked by mainstream publishers.
We specifically amplify the voices of Black, queer, women, and disabled writers while uplifting our Indigenous, Latine, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Pacific Islander siblings. We use poetry as a weapon against White Supremacy. We believe in our words’ power to build resilience and foster radical change within our communities.
This endeavor is what’s been driving my journey toward making more connections and securing funding to get more of
my people published.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.camilleterrycreative.com/
- Instagram: @camilleterrycreative
- Other: Blue Sky: @camthepoet.bsky.social
