Cynthia Amoah
For Cynthia Amoah, poetry is the act of performing, harnessing culture and inspiring masses. All of these things fuel her love for the art and pushed her to be part of the Columbus Museum of Art’s 2026 Aminah Robinson Writing Residency.
Amoah began her journey writing and performing poetry in high school, after an English teacher encouraged her to join the national Poetry Out Loud competition. The experience of competing with her peers heavily shaped her love for poetry.
“(Performing poetry) lit a fire in me to continue performing and sharing words out loud,” Amoah says.
Cynthia Amoah
Early inspiration
Much of Amoah’s creative direction draws from the Ghana-born artist’s exploration of identity.
“I found myself having an affinity for language arts,” she says. “I was often found in my English rooms, chatting it up with my ELA teachers, and I grew very close with my ELA teacher, Mrs. Fitzgerald.”
Amoah has spent most of her life in Columbus, having moved here when she was 8or 9. Her time in Reynoldsburg has allowed her to meet educators who inspired her to dive into the field of performance poetry through programs such as Poetry Out Loud and Mosaic.
“It felt like everywhere I turned, I was being exposed to arts and culture in a really beautiful way,” she says. “(Having positive educators) is a huge testament to the impact that educators and teachers have on young minds. As a result, I became a teaching artist, and I implemented an educational component to my art.”
The journey
Cynthia Amoah
After attending college in New York and earning her master’s degree from the New School in New York City, Amoah was inspired to write about her identity, which she says changes from season to season.
“Oftentimes, I am in search of what home looks like for myself,” Amoah says. “When I go to Ghana, I don’t feel quite at home, and I’m not fully accepted because I’m coming from another country. When I’m here in America, I look different. I sound different. I speak another language. I eat different foods. And so I don’t quite feel at home here.”
As a result, Amoah’s work often focuses on her concept of home.
“Maybe, in all of my exploration, my definition and idea of home has been found in the exploration, and the journey itself is my home,” says Amoah.
Amoah’s idea of belonging is also ever-changing, and her work often explores the notion of identity as a Black woman in America.
“I’m often exploring this idea of belonging: belonging to one place, belonging to multiple places, belonging to multiple identities,” she says.
Creating a future
Cynthia Amoah
Amoah will live in Aminah Robinson’s former home for three months as part of the program while she works on her collection, something she’s long wanted to do. She hopes the collection showcases explorations of her identity through her conversations with the women in her family and her culture.
“I am making my own art by exploring myself and the life and conversations of many Black women in my life who have inspired me and who have served as these guiding posts for me,” Amoah says. “It feels like I am, in a way, telling a portion of the story that is Aminah’s legacy.”
Amoah hopes today’s young, aspiring artists will be inspired by her exploration of her identity to do the same for themselves.
“Young people are on the cusp of discovering their greatness. I would tell them to pursue the things that might not be as popular, but that they might have a gift in,” she says. “Be in the spaces where your passion lives, surround yourself with other people who are also pursuing their passions or pursuing similar interests. Just immerse yourself fully in your gift and watch it pay off.”
Sandhya Kannan is a contributing writer at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
