Youth Poet Laureate Marcus Robinson Discusses His Evolution as a Poet
- Feb 5
- 4 min read
By Mar’Neacia Hardiman
"Not everyone is a writer, but everyone has something to say." -Marcus Robinson
It is a peaceful day at NSA, and there is one conservatory that does not get enough light, yet is full of talented artists, writers, and poets: Literary Arts. This conservatory is a creative way to express feelings, emotions, and imagination. One artist and poet who also participates in Southern Word, a poetry organization, is senior Marcus Robinson. He recently became the 11th Youth Poet Laureate of Nashville at State of the Word. He sits at his desk, opens his notebook, and tells his story.
The following interview has been edited and condensed. Content warning: self harm.
Mar’Neacia- When did you start being interested in poetry?
Marcus- I started becoming interested in poetry during the first year of high school. I was in eighth grade at the time at Nashville Prep, and my mom was looking for a high school for me and me being the oldest, this was all new to her as well. She came across NSA and wanted me to audition for Theatre and Literary Arts because she felt I had a strong talent in writing. I did not even know that myself, but I got in with the three poems I created.
Mar’Neacia- How do you balance subjective experiences and imagination in your poems?
Marcus- I balanced it by experiencing imagery; ever since middle school, I have seen a lot of things. The first time I saw someone self-harming and doing drugs was in middle school. Even though I did not do any of that, I saw it and I put it on paper to explain how I felt about it or how they felt during their moments.
Mar’Neacia- What were the first poems you wrote about?
Marcus- The first poem I ever wrote was about a crush; he had locs and I talked about how they reminded me of medusa or ropes and our ancestors in a sense.
Mar’Neacia- What was the biggest break in your poetry?
Marcus- I would say when I had finished a competition. It was with Brave New Voices, and I told my dad if Jaydyn Marshall competed, I would not have made it to the second round. It made me realize that my poetry is more feminine. But what they are looking for in a Black man is something like rapping and I am not a rapper. I relate more with the women because I grew up with mostly woman. Then then I met this mentor, Black Son, who is a rapper that writes poetry and he introduced me to being more masculine and it was doing well from there.
Mar’Neacia- How do you manage constructive criticism, even harsh criticism being a growing poet?
Marcus- It is strange because the only person that gives me hard critique is my dad and I hate it with passion. In class nobody gives me hard critique; they always say it is perfect, but no artist’s first draft is perfect. They give me critiques but nothing useful. I have this one poem named “Adam Cried Last Night” and I wanted to see what to add or take away and they were all saying it was perfect. If my dad had read it, he would say make it universal rather than just one approach; you must make it relatable to everyone. But I do not know if he is coming to me as a dad or an artist.
Mar’Neacia- So, I heard you have been getting into dancing and singing as a poet, how does that work?
Marcus- I am applying for a scholarship called First Wave and I want to show that I can do diverse things with poetry: that includes dancing and singing. One of the people I look up to is Jaden Marshell and she has a piece called “Blackbird” by Nina Simone. I learned how to make a heartbeat with my throat to include my poem, and everyone was like, that is creative. I got into dancing and singing to show my emotion in my poems more than just talking.
Mar’Neacia- How do you describe the structure of your poems?
Marcus- My structure is all over the place. Sometimes I do paragraph to paragraph, especially in my notebook. But if I were to type it out, it would be verse to verse. But speaking wise I am learning how to change the tempo. So, I start a poem slowly then I can speed it up and slow back down. My structure is not a set one— I go out of the box.
Mar’Neacia- So, about this notebook. What is this special notebook you write in?
Marcus- My notebooks contain drafted poems, poems off the dome, secrets, and vent sessions that turn into poems. The poems in the book are secrets that can be told. I always say, “What’s the point in telling a secret if the secret has no point of being said.” So, the book is just full of me.
Mar’Neacia- How do you overcome writer’s block and how often do you get it?
Marcus- I used to have writer’s block all the time, but I learned how to overcome it. I had this mentor sophomore year named Julian Ray Vaca and he is an author and he would give me prompts and then we would read poems after we write. So then ever since I learned that skill, I write whatever I see. I usually only get writer’s block when I write something good.
Mar’Neacia- Is there anything else you want to say that I have not asked you?
Marcus- I had a best friend that wanted to write but he was scared. He did not know what to say and one day after seeing me perform he began to write and after that he wrote and started writing more. He was like a bath full of water and you unplug the drain and the water goes down; that was him, he was the water and his poems were the drain. So, I would say pick up a pen or a phone, go to the note’s app, and write whatever comes to your mind because not everyone is a writer, but everyone has something to say.
