Omotara James is a poet, artist and editor, based out of New York City. She is the author of the chapbook, “Daughter Tongue,” selected by African Poetry Book Fund, in collaboration with Akashic Books, for the 2018 New Generation African Poets Box Set. Born in Britain, she is the daughter of Nigerian and Trinidadian immigrants. She has lived in England, Scotland and was raised primarily in America. She holds a BA in Creative Writing from Hofstra University and an MFA in Poetry from New York University.

James’ poems appear in print and digital journals, including The Poetry Foundation, The Paris Review, The Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day series, The Believer, Literary Hub, Poetry Society of America and Newtown Literary. Her work has been recently anthologised and selected for inclusion in Embodied: An Intersectional Feminist Comics Poetry Anthology (A Wave Blue World, 2021).

James’ debut poetry collection, “Song of My Softening,” is forthcoming from Alice James Books next year. A late-bloomer’s coming of age lyric, this book is a profoundly intersectional text. The collection is a third culture, queer, fat, love song of the interior. “Let it function as a mirror for anyone born into a culture outside of their identity, who has survived alienation, violation, depression and systematised oppression. This book is a window into what perseverance looks like, ungilded, for the undervalued and trod upon: those hyper-visible and invisible folx who have survived every kind of grief.”

Although her personal experiences influence the tenor of the book, James insists that the work is more art than archive. She works to create the sort of art that she wished she had access to as an impressionable Black, fat, femme kid, navigating thin, white patriarchal spaces. “My hope for this book is that it energises different, intersectional communities around language to tell their own stories. I hope individuals who don’t yet know they are storytellers, follow that urge to look back with generosity, into their community histories, through the lens of personal narrative.” She continues, “I was born into the revolutionary and praise songs of Yoruba culture; a larger-than-life Trinidadian Calyspo and Soca heritage; British Pop and Punk; and American Gospel R&B. I played piano as a child and competed in vocal competitions throughout high school. Melody is in everything I do and my ear is always listening for the drum. Even though various topics and themes of this manuscript are sometimes heavy, every syllable of this book will carry music. Therefore, each poem is a celebration of sound. To quote Lucille Clifton, this book is an invitation for you to ‘come celebrate / with me...’”

James is the recipient of a NYFA Poetry Fellowship, a 92Y/ Discovery Poetry Award and a Bread Loaf Katharine Bakeless Nason Award in Poetry. Her work has also been acknowledged as a 2019 finalist for the Brunel International African Poetry Prize; the inaugural Thomas Lux Scholarship from The Palm Beach Poetry Festival; and a Nancy P. Schnader Academy of American Poets Prize. An alumna of Tin House and Bread Loaf, she has received fellowships from the Cave Canem Foundation and Lambda Literary.

Please visit Omotara’s Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and her website for more information.