Cool Cat: Taneum Bambrick
story by Leanne Bick
Taneum Bambrick is fond of their hometown, Ellensburg; Memories are tucked away in the quaint country streets, ready to be reminisced upon once more as they explore. A pen to paper solidifies the images of the past, and her voice as an English Professor at CWU encourages their students to reminisce as well, through writing.
What was life like growing up in Ellensburg?
I love Ellensburg. I love the desert and the sage and the secrets in the downtown alleyways. Ellensburg was a lot different when I was a kid, but there were still amazing places, like Gallery One and D&M coffee. My friends and I used to hide poems for each other inside of a secret drawer in a table in D&M, and last I checked those notes were still there. I think growing up in Ellensburg made me creative because we had to always think of silly things to do to entertain ourselves.
Why did you want to become an English Professor?
I never wanted to be an English Professor! I actually wanted to work in politics, which I thought, as a kid growing up in a small place, was the best/most direct way to enact social change. After interning in Olympia for a representative, and later Washington DC for a senator, I realized that political science might not be for me. I could say so much more about that (lol) but for now I will just say that I was disheartened by the politics of politics.
Poetry had always been a part of my life; it was how I passed a lot of my time as a kid. When I started undergrad, I nervously took a class on the relationship between poetry and music, and I realized within that structure that poetry was actually an integral part of many social movements. I dove into poetry and poetic craft, and was approached by a professor who suggested I go on to start an MFA. In my graduate program in Tucson, AZ, I was given a TA position, which terrified me. After my first day teaching English 101, I walked home smiling and knew I had found my place. Nothing makes me happier than seeing a student learn how to articulate their ideas, values, and interests on the page.
What inspires and invigorates you?
Right now, I’m very inspired by the idea of trying to write in ways that inspire tenderness, friendship, and joy. So often, I think writers are taught to scrape around in some of the most traumatic moments of their life for inspiration. What would it look like if we were taught to articulate and archive our own moments of joy? Right now, for example, I’m working on a book about skunks, which are my favorite creatures. I give myself rules while I write, like: I have to make myself smile at least once per paragraph.
What hobbies do you have?
Rock Climbing, collecting fancy slimes (also this is a plug for my class this spring called "Writing and Slime"), pottery, and running!
What are some of your favorite novels?
I love In West Mills by De’Shawn Charles Winslow, We the Animals by Justin Torres, and Luster by Raven Leilani.
What are the titles of books you have written?
Intimacies, Received (Copper Canyon Press 2022), Vantage (American Poetry Review 2019).