Meet Unique Rutherford | Writer, Poet, Spoken Word Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Unique Rutherford and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Unique, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
Honestly speaking, i think the creative life pursued me. I started writing poetry as an outlet during a time where i was heavily unraveling my personal self and who i was, grieving, and depressed. So i wrote to save my own life. I performed for the first time on the grounds of just needing to scream, needing to hear myself say out loud that i was hurting. For about a year after that i would sporadically perform at open mics and this persistent haunting developed in my spirit that wanted to continue to engage with poetry and spoken word intentionally. I found my way to Atlanta and a few months later in April the ride really started. God has placed me on stage after stage after stage to share in art and humanity. All I do is write my feelings and maximize as a personal therapeutic outlet. That is why I say it pursued me.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
When people read my poetry or hear me speak my hope is that they feel loved, seen, and /or heard in that moment. My intention is to explode into humanity through art bringing the personhood of the artist to the forefront of creation. I use poetry to make the scary things less scary, to make the hard conversations easier to have, to provide safe space for myself and others to be their most vulnerable. That is what receivers can always expect to get from me. Poetry and performance has made me comfortable with my own vulnerability, self, and self-expressions so I want to extend that to everybody underneath the sound of my voice.
With that in mind, the fear of being seen has been the biggest challenge I’ve faced on this journey and the only way to get through it was to be seen. It is and will always be to continuously show up and put my heart on that stage. And everytime I’ve done it and someone tells me “thank you” or “I needed to hear that,” I know I did what I was called to do. It is also a lesson to me that the scary things are only as scary as you allow them to be. One of my favorite singers once said “do what you fear and fear will disappear.” If no other era in my life, I have lived that quote in this one. It gives me hope that there will always be an “other side” to every mountain you climb. And if you take nothing else from my art, my story, or my presence, I hope you take with you a little glimmer of hope!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
This is such a tricky question because I am a creature of habit and once I find the things and places I like I stick to it. Therefore we’d definitely be at a lot of poetry events throughout the week. Poetry on Peter on Monday, The Circle on Tuesday, Pho The Soul on Wednesday, Blu Lagoon on Thursday. Friday night we’d probably hit My Sister’s Room, the High Museum of Art, or Midnight Garden for non poetry related fun. Saturday and Sunday we’d brunch at Breakfast at Barney’s and Augie’s Breakfast Bar. The Beltline is one of my favorite places to be when the weather permits. It is a walking trail that hosts a skate park, tons of restaurants, shops, and travels all the way down to one of the biggest parks in the city Piedmont Park. Speaking of parks, I love people watching downtown at Centennial Olympic Park, maybe get on the sky view if I’m feeling frisky. Karaoke at Our Bar on Sundays is always a go to as well. Depending on who you are, you might read this and either tell me I need to get out more or that we’re a perfect match as travel buddies 🙂

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
First and foremost, my mother. I know that she passed down her love of writing, speaking, and performing to me. And in her death writing poetry has become a way for me to constantly feel connected to her. In fact, in was a poem I wrote to honor her and speak to the experience of grieving the loss of a parent or loved one that got me on a stage in the first place. That was the hurt I needed to say out loud so I can not shoutout anybody without first giving my mother Cheryl Diane Odomes her flowers. My sister Tavia deserves all the praise as well because she has always been my biggest fan and saw the writer in me long before I had the courage to call myself good. My father Tavis and my family have always rooted for me even if they didn’t understand, even if they were apprehensive, they trusted the human they helped rear to make the best decisions for herself. One of my biggest poetic inspirations Jasmine Mans deserves honor as well because I would never have intentionally took art serious if I never discovered her or got to receive words of encouragement to just do it from her during the pandemic. Last, but certainly not least to my friends and fellow poets here in the Atlanta poetry community who inspire me, push me, grow me, and love me as a writer and a friend. I’d be here all day but thank you Talor, Dime, She Pharoah, Jada, Sean, Zee, Karma, Jackson, Ty, Kelz, etc. The list goes on.

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