Spotlight On Writers
Timothy A. Agnew
- Where do you originate from?
Thank you for inviting me to share my profile. I was born in Cheektowaga, NY, and moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at a young age. My family quickly discovered the Southern bias toward Yankees, which we later found hilarious. I still consider upstate New York my “home,” probably from my sensory-rich childhood growing up in snow and experiencing serene spring, summer, and fall.
- What do you cherish most about the place you call home?
I consider my home wherever I may be. While I attended high school in Georgia, I’ve spent most of my adult life in Florida. My son was born and raised in Sarasota, FL. I moved back to Atlanta to look after my parents, so I don’t consider it home as much as a hub for travel.
I enjoy traveling throughout the year to write in different places, and I often choose locations where I don’t know anyone so I can observe and understand their cultures and language. I spent a month in Medellin, Colombia, last year and didn’t know a soul (nor speak perfect Spanish), but I made more connections than many of my years in Atlanta.
- What ignites your creativity?
I begin every day at 5:15 a.m. and do a three-mile hike through the forest. Movement is vital to my thinking, and I get tremendous ideas on my walks. I keep a journal and store ideas, thoughts, and sketches throughout the day. I believe sketching is important for creativity, and using it as an adjunct to writing is a prudent brain exercise.
Music is also important to me. I may play Ozzie Osbourne one day and Mozart the next—and I enjoy writing in noisy places like cafes where there is lots of activity around me. I like to use flash writing as an exercise, and it’s how I write my poetry and stories (flash writing involves a short, timed round of stream-of-consciousness writing).
- Do you have a favorite word, and could you incorporate it into a poetic phrase?
There are too many words for one. Top of mind in this moment of world-strife are words like hope, perseverance, and fortitude—not necessarily the words, but the ideology of what they represent. We are in a moment of social identity fracture, where violence and abhorrent behavior is being normalized.
I whisper to hope again, like the space before a sunset, when we opened doors to lost soul-savants dancing on the edge of the universe.
- What is your pet peeve?
Coddled ignorance steeped in negativity. Lack of kindness. Children starving in Gaza when the means to help are available. The current US mindset and the slaughtering of our democracy. Inertia. My impatient spirit to those who lost the ingenuity for love and kindness. We must be role models for others and help change the unchangeable when others give in.
- How would you describe the essence of Timothy A. Agnew?
Others likely perceive my essence differently, so this is a subjective bias, but I believe that words and storytelling change lives. While I’m fortunate to make a living as a writer, it’s always the messages I receive from readers that give me purpose. I want my words to affect people, to shake emotions, to touch the heart. When I hear statements like, Your story touched my soul, it’s what motivates me to write. And that is enough.
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