I would like to personally introduce this poet if you don’t already know who she is. One of the many gems of Houston, I have had the pleasure of sharing the stage and audience with this remarkable story teller. I present to you the 2015 Houston Poet Laureate Finalist, D.E.E.P.
She has established herself as a notable nationally-known poet and author. Ranked the #2 Best female poet in the world in 2008, she has been a force of power in the poetry community for 13 years. She published her first collection of poetry, “Heartstrings and Lamentations,” at the tender age of 19. She went on to compete in her first national poetry slam in her senior year of college as a member of the 2004 Collegiate Poetry Slam Team for the University of Michigan.
After falling in love with the National poetry slam team she moved to Houston and became a member of the 2007 Houston Poetry Slam and 2008 H-Town National Poetry Slam Teams. She served as the Slammaster and seven-time member of the Houston VIP Slam Team. Currently, she is the three-time Grand Slam Champion of the Houston VIP team. In 2011, she coached the National Team to Group Piece Finals where they were ranked 6th in the nation. In 2012, under her coaching, the VIP team was ranked 4th in the Southwest at the Southwest Shootout Regional Slam.
She has had the honor of being chosen as one of the Juried Poets for the 2012 Houston Poetry Fest. She has been a finalist at the 2013 Southern Fried Poetry Slam and the Champion of the 2014 Counter Current Ekphrastic Poetry Slam. Most recently gained the title of Last Chance Slam Champion at the 2014 Women of the World Slam. She was named Runner-up for The Loft’s Spoken Word Immersion fellowship in 2015.
Her work can be seen in the 2012 Houston Poetry Fest Anthology, the 2014 Survival Issue published by Wicked Banshee Press, And the Alight Collection of women’s poetry. She has also been featured as opening acts for such artists as Talib Kweli, MC Lyte, Amiri Baraka, John Legend, Slum Village, Karen Clark-Sheard, Def Poet Sunni Patterson, Def Comedy Jam’s Rodman, Regie Gibson, multiple political figures, and a host of other public figures.
We sit and talk a little bit about what poetry is and means to D.E.E.P.
Urban Image: What is your definition of poetry?
D.E.E.P.: Poetry is the song the heart speaks when it’s too heavy to sing. It is our way to process emotion, challenge our norms, and provoke community through sharing an experience; whether on page or stage.
Urban Image: What is your writing process? Do you have a regular routine?
D.E.E.P.: My writing process is more sporadic with a young child at home. I try to make time every day to write, but sometimes life happens. I try to make sure if i am not writing, that I’m reading something to inspire some new work.
Urban Image: What are the most important elements of writing?
D.E.E.P.: The most important elements of writing for my own work are imagery and metaphor. With image, you can take people from various backgrounds, ethnicities, social statuses and jar them with the similar experience or comparison to something familiar. When that happens, walls fall down and understanding shows up!
Urban Image: Describe some of the misconceptions about poetry that you have encountered.
D.E.E.P.: Being a Performance Poet, I often encounter people believing that the normal conventions of writing are overlooked for importance on stage. I strongly disagree. When done right, performance should only accentuate what was already genius on page. I spend more time working with the words than I do with my choreography. I edit and revise numerous times. That should be a mandatory step in every writer’s journey.
Urban Image: If you could share one piece of advice to aspiring poets, what would it be?
D.E.E.P.: I have a couple pieces of advice for aspiring writers:
Please make sure you follow and support this poet with her tremendous work and poetic journey. Find her on Twitter @livelifedeep or check out http://www.LiveLifeDeep.com. You can also find out and show love to @HoustonVIPSlam for events.