About

I'm Tash Gillezeau, and I'm the creator of Poetry with Tash. 

The idea came to me during lockdown in Sydney, Australia while working as a reporter for The Australian Financial Review. 

I love my job, but I needed a totally different vibe in my life. Something that gives me joy outside of the more traditional rhythm of work during the week followed by weekend fun.

Poetry fascinates me as it requires both intellectual and emotional engagement. It runs on a different speed to day-to-day life, the news cycle, and the social media content churn. It's also really fun to work through poems in a group because you learn just as much from listening to others as you do from forming your own interpretations. I had a feeling there would be others who felt this same desire to dissect life through a literary lens, and a series of online poetry sessions were born.

I've taught English for over 10 years and graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelors in Media Communications & Law, but as Dead Poets Society will tell you, credentials may help but true poetry analysis comes from the heart.

I won't lie - poetry isn't always easy. Sharing your thoughts and interpretations can generate feelings of vulnerability. At times it's hard to know what on earth a poet is talking about, and even for the most well-read person it's impossible to keep up with all the Greek mythology, Biblical, and historical allusions. At other times, a line in a poem may unexpectedly strike a sensitive part of you.

But some challenge in a safe environment is a good thing. Our culture is so over-indexed on convenience, comfort, and efficiency, that we actually need activities that push us beyond our comfort zone. 

At the end of the day that's why I really created these sessions, so we take the time with each other to reflect, think more clearly, and better learn how to understand and express the full spectrum of life as the poems work their magic on all of us.

Thanks for taking the time to learn a little bit more about me. I can't wait to see you in the next session.