Tamra Plotnick’s poetry and prose works have been published in a variety of journals and anthologies, including: Serving House Journal; The Waiting Room Reader, Vol II: Words to Keep You Company, edited by Rachel Hadas; Tribes #8, Stickman Review, LiveMag, BigCityLit; Atlantic Review; Lurch; Burrow; The Midwest Review; Hunger Enough and Global City Review: International Edition. Her memoir excerpt “Barbie and Gandhi Sitting in a Tree” appeared in The Coachella Review. After ranking as a semifinalist in a variety of contests, her poetry collection In the Zero of Sky has been accepted for publication by Assure Press.
She has read and performed her work in multimedia shows at a range of venues, including La Mama Theater, Zinc Bar, KGB, and Cornelia Street Café. With a long and varied background as a dancer, she has performed her own works and those of others at theaters such as Dixon Place, Teatro Julia de Burgos, The Caribbean Cultural Center and PS 122. She has created and led workshops melding creative writing with movement and continues her practice of dance forms such as samba, Afro-Caribbean, improvisation, and raqs sharqi.
She earned a master’s degree in Creative Writing from City College of New York, where she won a New York Times Fellowship, and an undergraduate degree from Sarah Lawrence College. Additionally, she holds a Masters’ degree in education and is a certified yoga instructor. She teaches English Language Arts in public high school in Manhattan and lives in Brooklyn with her family.