Today we’d like to introduce you to Lala.
Hi Lala, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was always a little standoffish as a child. I never really made friends easily and although I lived in a house with 5 other siblings I just stayed to myself. So when I was a pre-teen I started writing. I used to stay up late watching TV in my room and I was always so drawn to Deaf Jam Poetry. I was intrigued. So I got into writing poetry. I eventually had a poem published in who’s who and I used to submit my work online at I believe it was poetry.com. Writing was the only place I felt like I could express myself even though back then I didn’t write my experiences. I just wrote what my imagination envisioned. Eventually, I graduated high school and left and joined the military and adulthood, life, being a mother took over and writing kind of fell to the waste side. I sporadically wrote pieces that I can’t even find now. At some point I went from writing poetry to starting writing novels which I ended up losing. Guess those stories weren’t meant to surface. From there I stopped writing altogether for a while. Then in 2023 I lived in Springfield,IL and I followed a lot of poets on social media. There was a poet in particular that wanted me to come on her live platform and share my work. I can’t lie I didn’t think my work compared to hers but she loved it and it sparked me to really get back into writing. I moved to Florida where I then really dug into my writing and expressing myself. The end of 2024 I found on open mic and hit the stage for the first time ever and it was murder she wrote ever since.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Writing has never been a smooth road lol. I always say that I am not a poet that can write a poem a day. I go months without writing and for me every piece needs to have a feeling I can’t explain. It doesn’t always have to be my story but I really need it to resonate within me. I’ve been years without writing and sometimes life had just took over forcing me to focus on other things.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a Spoken Word Artist and Slam Poet. I currently reside in orlando Florida. Most of my work does revolve around trauma based poetry or real life experiences. Most of which but not all are personal or cultural experiences. I perform at open mics, poetry slams, festivals, workshops, cultivated events. I also coach/mentor aspiring poets. Helping them find their voice in a space that’s healthy for them and not traumatic. I’m most proud of the healing that I’ve gone through and that poetry has allowed me to overcome. I think what sets me apart from others is my raw, emotional abilities I can bring to any poem. I at no point consider myself an actor and I have a need to always be in control of myself and my movements so sometimes acting out my poems are hard but my voice and emotions I feel tend to never really miss a beat.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I definitely would like to see myself across more stages. Performing at bigger events and doing more activists type of work. I’m currently in the midst of branding myself and also coming out with a clothing line that is powered from poetry but I catered to everyone.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Simplylala1
- Facebook: Lala Lunsford
