Tarik Dobbs is the newest poetry professor at SMSU. He has published poems in many publications from The Georgia Review to The Poetry Foundation.
He also has published books, and he is a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellow. Considering all his achievements he says his greatest accomplishment is becoming a poetry professor. He is excited to be able to start teaching and creating communities in his classes.
His adjustment here was made better by the staff as he says, “The faculty have been super supportive” because of this he wasn’t scared to start teaching here.
“The Scariest part (of getting the job) was not being sure they wanted me when they met me.” Dobbs said. After he got his job, he was less scared and more excited to start his new journey with SMSU.
His mother was an English teacher for high school, so Tarik takes pride in his new career. Though this isn’t his first time teaching, when Dobbs was going to Minnesota State University (U of M), the school had him teaching creative writing courses. He joked about this and said, “I was teaching while learning to teach.”
While at the U of M he really enjoyed the community aspect and “seeing people find themselves especially in poetry.”
Having graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree then going to the University of Minnesota for its creative writing MFA program, you would think that he likes big campuses with both campus’s averaging almost 45,000 students. Though he looks forward to being in a less daunting community.
He feels it is easier for him to make an impact on the campus and the community. Tarik said, “the class sizes are small enough to meet each student”
He has ideas to get more involved. He wants to start a poetry club; in it he wants to read contemporary poetry and have casual workshops. Dobbs wants to help increase community and “make poetry feel like something more people can be a part of.”
He found his passion for poetry in college when he took a poetry class by chance which helped him realize his potential. While in a fiction writing class the professor wasn’t a fan of his stories but felt that there was something there, they urged Tarik to try poetry.
Now he has one book published called ‘Nazar Boy’ which is about a trip he took to the Sakhnin Valley and his reflection of it in a post 9/11 world.
Along with that book he has another on being published in 2026 called ‘Dearbornistan’ which is a project book following the Henry Ford’s assimilation program where Ford would have the immigrant workers be watched and encouraged to “Accept the American way of life.” Tarik joked, “it’s like Amazon before Amazon.”
He credits his ability of writing and telling stories to his family he said, “I come from a family of storytellers. My grandpa used to be a storyteller in Lebanon.”
As Tarik Dobbs gets more situated in his new position and role at the university, one thing he said he was excited for was “The future of the creative writing of SMSU” and the community that comes with it.
To learn more about Tarik Dobbs and his work visit Tarik Dobbs and if you are interested in his book ‘Nazar Boy’ go to Nazar Boy.
