EMU student poet lands in Cellar Roots fine arts magazine for the second time

Ypsilanti native Amelia Taylor, an orthodontics and prosthetics major at Eastern Michigan University, is also a published poet — twice over.

Two of Taylor's poems appear in the 51st edition of the fine arts magazine Cellar Roots, which was released in March 2025. She's a returning artist to the publication. Previous pieces of her poetry were published in the 2023-24 edition.

One of the poems in the 2025 magazine is titled "Sapphic." The other is "Rambling Child on a Gibbet."

“A lot of my art has previously been [inspired by] traumatic experiences and intrusive thoughts,” Taylor said. “My poems are dramatically more subtle though. A lot of what I construct with them is metaphor.”

Cellar Roots, the university's student-produced fine arts magazine, was launched in 1971, to provide a way to highlight student creativity — and a medium for showcasing that work. A fully student-staffed team has published the magazine annually, with a slight hiatus due to the pandemic. But the missing year was corrected with a double publication soon after.

The magazine features multiple forms of art, including visual works such as photography and paintings, 3D pieces, poetry, and even music and sound created by EMU students.

This year, the magazine editors once again turned to a jury to choose which art pieces were published. 

A table with bug legs: Cellar Roots artist shares discovery of 3D creation

Taylor said she has been writing poems since she was in the fifth grade. She learned of Cellar Roots through word of mouth and decided to submit her work. Her previously submitted poems were titled “Despair of the Pitied,” “Obsession De Sarco,” and “Nonsmoker.” All three were in the 2023-2024 edition.

Taylor also paints and is currently working on an art book featuring her poetry and paintings. She hopes to have it self-published within the next year.

She said she has been painting since she was around 6 years old.

“Lots of my paintings draw the same inspiration as my poetry, though I tend to do a lot of faceless figures, that seems to be my general thing,” Taylor said. “Lots of the paintings I do incorporate my physical features, which I didn’t realize until later. I could have the full structure of a face laid out, but I’ll stop!”

The Eastern Michigan University Student Media team released the 51st edition of Cellar Roots in March. The team hosted a launch party for the magazine and an opening night reception for a gallery exhibit of the works iApril 3 at the Student Media Center. The exhibit was on display through the end of April.

Visit the Cellar Roots website for more information.