Interview: Tammy Greenwood

Tammy Greenwood is a Louisiana native residing in California. A poet and printmaker, her work is heavily influenced by the varying landscape and culture of both states she calls home. Currently an MFA student in poetry at San Diego State University, she is a Pushcart Prize and Best Spiritual Lit nominee and her work appears in Greensboro Review, McNeese Review, Pinch, Rattle, Rust & Moth, SWWIM, West Trade Review, Whale Road Review, and elsewhere. Tammy’s poem “Call and Response” appears in BLR Issue 49, and is included in her debut chapbook, The Winged and the Horned, which was published in 2026 by Finishing Line Press. www.tammygreenwoodart.com

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Bellevue Literary Review (BLR): Congratulations on the publication of your debut chapbook. Can you tell us a bit about The Winged & the Horned? 

Tammy Greenwood: Thanks for spending time with my chapbook! The Winged & the Horned formed as I was working on my full-length manuscript. This collection explores grief surrounding infertility, child loss, step-motherhood, mental health and addiction. Initially I thought the fertility symbol of the rabbit would connect the pieces, but somehow it morphed into flying imagery. I love the way a collection can happen organically without directing the arc from the beginning, the way poems start echoing and responding to each other.

I thought these poems were very female centered, but I recently had a man reach out to me who also suffered from infertility and had read my book. I hadn’t considered how universal each of these subjects might be. The writing of each of these poems was a way for me to revisit and process various experiences with grief, but it’s the continuous dialogue with those having a shared experience that has caused the most introspection. 

BLR: Your poem “Call and Response” was published in BLR‘s theme issue on Animalia, and the collected poems often draw on animal imagery to explore very human themes. How did nature come to be a catalyst in your journey as a writer?

TG: I live in a rural area and in a desert environment. With the climate changes we’re faced with today, the elements are not always gentle, yet the overarching theme I encountered in the natural environment was always resilience. As I would need to give my psyche respite from the heavier poems, I would spend time outdoors journaling observations. I began to feel more a part of this natural world instead of only an observer. I found solace in this. Nature has a way of reminding us we don’t have to try so hard; sometimes just existing is magnificent.

BLR: The first poem in the book, “The Infertile Rabbit,” ends on “I wonder what it feels like to surrender.” The last line of the final poem — the title poem, “The Winged and the Horned” — has the narrator’s “feet lifting ever so slightly from the tiled ground.”  It’s a lovely description of lightness, almost coming full circle to that wish for surrender in the opening poem.  What was it like to put the poems in order for the collection, to tell a story in that way?

TG: Thank you for recognizing this connection! I knew most of the poems in this collection were going to be heavy. I wanted the reader to experience a landing point on the nature poems tucked in between and I wanted the arc to open up so the reader could experience a lightness or broadening towards the end. I’d love to say that I carefully crafted the beginning poem to flow into the ending poem, but thankfully as with most writing, this occurred on its own. In organizing the collection, I was surprised at how the imagery moved from the infertile rabbit, alone in its den, to the winged creatures taking flight. I don’t consciously write towards a theme, but I believe the subconscious is heavy at work.

BLR: You are also a visual artist and printmaker. Which medium did you start out in, and how do they overlap and interact in your creative life?

TG: Although I have always written by way of journaling, I was drawn to the ease in which I could express myself through visual art. I received my undergrad in Studio Art with emphasis on Printmaking in my forties and began taking creative writing course as well. At some point I no longer felt that the visual art could hold all I wanted to express and my focus moved to writing. I’m now in my second year of the MFA program at San Diego State University and working on my full-length manuscript. I enjoy toggling between these two mediums and at times they overlap into ekphrasis poetry. I’m interested in how these two mediums speak to each other and prompt one another.

BLR: What’s your biggest challenge in writing? How do you overcome it?

TG: My biggest challenge in writing is also what drew me to storytelling to begin with, and that is the shared life experience we have as humans. The challenge lies in how to engage a reader with a common occurrence and make it feel like a new encounter. This balance of the familiar or mundane with fresh insight is what I’ve come to admire in some of my favorite poets like Henri Cole, Carl Phillips, Diane Seuss, and Ada Limón. I try to overcome this challenge by paying attention to the smallest of details. It’s often the dust mote that carries the weight of a poem rather than the space where it’s held.

BLR: Which BLR themes — health, healing, community — resonate with you most? Why did you choose to submit to BLR?

TG: I have been drawn to Bellevue Literary Review for some time. I’ve always found the stories and poetry uplifting with their themes of mental health, endurance, and healing. I find solace in our (humanity’s) capacity for compassion towards strangers. I had hoped my work might have the same effect on other readers.