Adam Tie’s bad stutter didn’t bother him growing up. To express himself, he began writing notes instead and found he was far more eloquent on paper. “Writing is rewarding. It’s real, the best thing in the world—but only if you dare to show your soul,” he tells me.
Poems, short stories, long prose, and scripts for movies and television filled his notebooks. So, when it came to The Novel Encounter (TNE), Tie, says, “There was no voice in the world I wanted to mimic or replicate other than my own.”
The 34-year-old founded the start-up, which offers beautifully packaged mystery books with an entertaining summary enclosed, live poetry sessions, installations and events with a poetic touch, and unique workshops, in 2016.
Tie, is himself the author of Finders & Keepers and This Life Electric: The Ballad of the Haven, and the creator of the card game Inside Thoughts. However, he is best known for his live typewritten poems that he writes in under five minutes based on three words provided by guests.
He is also the co-founder of creative agency We The Fresh, but TNE allows him to create something more meaningful and feels like “a safe place in some capacity”. He elaborates: “Your burdens, though personal, are universal feelings. If what I do here with my customised poems can make people feel less alone, more grounded, and elevated all at once, I consider it a success.”
What he does, however, is not for everyone because it is not easy. In Tie’s words, “It is not meant to be easy. Neither is it meant to make you rich. You’re not meant to do this to get famous.”
Following the interview, we put the poet to the test. The poem below was created for a+ and incorporates our tagline, “at the vanguard ”.
