There’s a necklace in Glenis Redmond’s closet that does more than adorn her wardrobe from time to time; it tells a story—her story. The gift of a friend, the necklace functions as a charm bracelet would. On it are pictures of her late mother and grandmother, a photograph of her greatest influences, a few icons. And in the spaces between, a series of coins.
“They’re slave tokens,” Redmond says. “They’re a form of currency, used by slaves to trade among themselves.”
“African Ideology”
Redmond, 59, is Greenville’s first-ever Poet Laureate. It’s a simple appellation. But behind the title is a profundity of purpose rooted in her past, her present, and her sense of the future.
“I believe I was born a poet,” she says. “Before I could write, I remember cataloging moments in my life—those that were integral to me. I also love stories. There’s an innate storyteller in me. There always has been.”
And, like many writers and poets, Redmond says she’s always tended to stand outside of her experiences, watching, taking mental notes. “Growing up, I was watching my mother, and her mother—strong, Christian women—living their lives.”
And yet, there was another thread, a thread Redmond describes as a sort of “African ideology” apparent in their lives.
“They never spoke it. But they lived it,” she says. “Through those women, I came to understand how life works, that one can find the beauty, even if it comes outside traditional, religious norms. The faith is unquestionable, undeniable. But it’s also so multilayered and beautiful.”
As a younger woman, Maya Angelou was her greatest influence. “But it wasn’t her poetry, it was I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings,” she says.
Today, Redmond credits Lucille Clifton as her muse.
“I feel and align with her. She writes a lot about her West African lineage, and when I read her, I realized I had a lot of unearthing to do on mine. Also, her poetry is plainspoken and simple, and it is hard to do that.”
Though born a poet, Redmond has been other things. She’s been a mental health counselor; she’s an author, a writing coach, a mentor, an influencer, a cancer survivor. She’s won too many awards to list, been on too many platforms to name, and has shaped an entire generation of poets.
But her heartbeat remains the story.
Finding Ways to Flourish
Diagnosed with cancer during the COVID pandemic, Redmond says she had to find reasons to keep moving. But instead of fleeing the trauma, she moved toward it.
“I looked at the edge of my life—a step from death—and as I was coming back to life, I looked like plucked chicken,” she says, laughing. “But despite all that was going on in the world and my health, I just found reasons to get up every morning. ‘Today, you’re going to go plant something in the garden. You’re going to sit out and look at the birds, or quilt,’ while I was also publishing three books.”
“‘Bloom anyhow’ became my mantra during COVID, after my cancer diagnosis,” she remembers. “It’s the idea of not only blooming anyhow—despite the circumstances—but blooming anyhow in the midst of those circumstances. Not just be alive, but flourish.”
“Allow yourself to be in the sunlight, allow yourself to bloom.” And, practically speaking, Redmond insists on “making a list of what’s going for me.”
As for all the accolades, the recognition, including the Poet Laureate honor bestowed by the city of Greenville in 2022?
“All of it means a lot,” she says. “I’m in the season of receiving. Before, I’d have deflected. Now, I say ‘thank you, and more, please!’”
Glenis Redmond Fast facts
Born: 1963 on Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, SC
Education: BA, Erskine College; MFA in poetry, Warren Wilson College
Author of: Six books of poetry, most recently Praise Songs for Dave the Potter with artwork by Jonathan Green
Awards (a sample): SC Governor’s Award, North Carolina Literary Fellowship, the Charlie Award from the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival
Founded: Peace Voices at the Peace Center; the first Greenville Poetry Slam; Word Slam, a poetry slam for teens in Asheville
Teaching: A Kennedy Center Teaching Artist; a mentor poet for the National Student Poets Program through the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards
Performance venues: The White House, The Library of Congress
