Tara Betts is returning to Binghamton University Friday, February 24, for a reading from her new collection Refuse to Disappear. Tara was a student of Maria Gillan and received her Ph.D. in 2014.
In an interview, Tara spoke about Maria's influence on her poetry.
"I came to Binghamton after a dramatic life change, and for some years a dream of mine was to do my PhD. [Professor Emeritus] Maria Gillan was really instrumental in bringing me to the campus — she reached out to me directly, right when I was thinking about applying. When I came up there, I felt like I had done so much as a writer before I got the Ph.D. I had been teaching at Rutgers.The faculty at Binghamton were very supportive; they wanted to see me win. They really believed in my writing and my work. It was challenging at times because it’s not like living in a major American city, but it did remind me a lot of home. I grew up in a small town, so in some ways, it was comforting. I was able to study and read a lot, and I made some friends that I still stay in touch with from the program. That time was the key to where I am now.[Maria Gillan] has been in touch with so many amazing writers, including one of my mentors, Afaa Michael Weaver. Without them, I don’t think I would be the poet that I am. They both encourage you not just to write narrative poems. We’re in an era where a lot of people do formal poems and poems that have different kinds of clever structures and conceits, but there’s strength in writing something where you feel vulnerable."
Maria Mazziotti Gillan's newest poetry collection is When the Stars Were Still Visible (2021). Other recent publications are the poetry and photography collection, Paterson Light and Shadow, and the poetry collections What Blooms in Winter and The Girls in the Chartreuse Jackets, a pairing of her poems with her paintings.
Maria's artist website is MariaMazziottiGillan.com and her poetry website is MariaGillan.com.
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