“In luminous, lyrical prose, Tara Stringfellow sings the song of the North women—and the North men—with wisdom, humor, and deep humanity. Memphis is an American epic, a tribute to life in all of its sorrow and joyful resilience.” — Chloe Benjamin, bestselling author of The Immortalists

Tara M. Stringfellow is a former attorney, Northwestern University MFA graduate, and two-time Pushcart Prize nominee whose debut novel and national bestseller Memphis was a Read with Jenna pick and longlisted for the Women’s Prize in Fiction, Aspen Literary Prize and Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. Her poetry collection, Magic Enuff, will be published in June 2024 and was heralded by Warsan Shiree as “a guiding light of tenderness and power.”

A cross-genre artist, the author was Northwestern University’s first MFA graduate in both poetry and prose and her work has appeared in Collective Unrest, Jet Fuel Review, Minerva Rising, Women’s Arts Quarterly and Apogee Journal, among others. After having lived in Okinawa, Ghana, Chicago, Cuba, Spain, Italy, and Washington, D.C., she moved back home to Memphis, where she sits on her porch swing every evening with her hound, Huckleberry, listening to records and chatting with neighbors.

Tara M.'s Featured Titles

Authors-Unbound_icon-web-link.png

Memphis: A Setting and a Novel

Memphis is my debut novel, but also a distinct character of her own right in the book. A discussion of how setting can become characterization and how place grounds our own narrative stories.

Authors-Unbound_icon-web-link.png

Pen as the Sword: Writing Protest Poetry & Political Satire

A talk on how my writing has always been my instrument to protest injustices in this country from police brutality, racial oppression, and women’s reproductive rights.

Authors-Unbound_icon-web-link.png

Writers Festival Appearances

In creative gathering for aspiring writers, published authors, screenwriters, poets, and songwriters, Tara describes her journey from divorce to going back to school for her MFA to writing her debut novel Memphis.  Keynote Presentation.

Authors-Unbound_icon-web-link.png

Festival of Women Authors

For festivals focused on established and emerging women authors, Tara gives a speech that focuses on her inspiration for writing her debut novel Memphis, from police brutality in her city to the banning of books in her home state of Tennessee.

Authors-Unbound_icon-web-link.png

Presentation for Southern Hosts

Tara leads a discussion session and Q&A in celebration of Southern Writers; she discusses what it’s like to be an author of color in today’s political landscape, and how topics such as women’s reproductive rights, police brutality, and racial oppression led her to write Memphis.

Authors-Unbound_icon-web-link.png

An Evening of Poetry

Tara gives a poetry reading, answers questions from the audience and speaks about her writing journey.

Authors-Unbound_icon-web-link.png
Authors-Unbound_icon-web-link.png
Authors-Unbound_icon-web-link.png
Authors-Unbound_icon-web-link.png

Tara’s Events Link

Honors, Awards & Recognition

National Bestseller, Memphis, April 2022
Women’s Prize for Fiction, Longlisted, March 2023
North Carolina Chapel Hill Fiction Prize, Longlisted, July 2023
Aspen Words Literary Prize, Longlisted, December 2022
Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, Shortlisted, July 2022
Roxane Gay Book Club Pick, May 2022
Best Book of the Year, Amazon Books, April 2022
Read with Jenna Book Club Pick, The Today Show, April 2022
Book Pipeline Fiction Contest, Winner, February 2020
Best of the Net Nomination for Poetry, Collective Unrest, 2019
Pushcart Prize Nomination for Poetry, Collective Unrest, 2018
Best of the Net Nomination for Poetry, Jet Fuel Review, 2017
Pushcart Prize Nomination for Poetry, Linden Avenue Literary Journal, 2016
Dean’s List, Northwestern University, 2006—2017
Dean’s List, Chicago-Kent College of Law, 2012—2013
Davee Fellowship Recipient, Northwestern University, 2007

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.

We’ve received your Message!

An AU Representative will connect with you as soon as possible.