Pat Greene is Bungalower Media’s first sponsored Resident Reporter. Greene has joined our team as our Arts and Culture Correspondent, supported by the efforts of Interstruct Design + Build, an award-winning Orlando-based design and build firm.
Shawn Welcome is the City of Orlando’s second Poet Laureate. He follows Susan Lilley in that role. Shawn will be replaced in October when his term ends. There is currently a search for the next Poet Laureate.
- When did you start writing poetry, and why did you start writing poetry? Did you ever imagine that your life would take the turns it’s taken?
I started writing rap lyrics about a month or so into my senior year of high school. I had recently moved back to Brooklyn that year after leaving as a child to live in Orlando, where I grew up. Over time, and after returning to Orlando post-high school graduation, my writing evolved into spoken word poetry. I started writing for a number of reasons:
The creative expressions I heard from my new peers in New York were hella impressive, and it piqued my curiosity as to whether I was capable of writing and performing like them.
There were a lot of seemingly uncontrollable transitions in my life at that time, and writing creatively provided a space where I was completely autonomous. It was one of the few things I could control.
Once I discovered I had a talent for it and how good it made me feel, it became a new love – a healthy hobby that helped me kill time, grow my skills, and boost my confidence.
I had no inkling that this gift I discovered between classes, as the new kid in a different city, would evolve into my full-time career.
2. Who or what are your influences?
When I first started writing, my main influences were my classmates and guys on my basketball team. A lot of them wrote and performed in a rap style that was highly lyrical and creative. Although they rhymed a lot, it was still very much cadence-driven. They created these subtle spaces for audience engagement as most of these performances were either for a sidewalk, train, or cafeteria audience. I loved just being in the mix, and I know that had an influence on my initial style of delivery. They, of course, along with myself, were also influenced by every big-name rapper that came out of New York and the surrounding areas: Jay-Z, Mos Def, Lauryn Hill, Nas, Busta Rhymes, Biggie, etc.
In our community, there was more emphasis on how you said what you said than on what you actually said, so I always entered writing with the forethought of performance, considering inflection, tone, and tempo. It needed to “sound” good, not just be well-written. The way the words flowed was important, and I was definitely influenced by what I was exposed to. The fact that these kids were my age, 16, 17, and 18, was also an influential factor in my participation.
When I brought my newfound talent back to Orlando after graduating high school and starting at Valencia College, a friend of mine, Roderick Mentus, told me that I reminded him of Saul Williams. I didn’t know who that was at the time, but he encouraged me to watch this movie called “Slam.” In the movie, the character played by Saul Williams performs a poem called “Amethyst Rock.” After watching that performance in the movie, I understood why my buddy Rod said what he did, and since then, I have identified as a spoken word poet or performance poet. Outside of rap songs, I hadn’t heard spoken word poetry before that moment, and that had a huge influence on my understanding of the genre.
Being exposed to other poets in my community in Orlando in the early 2000s really influenced me to gravitate to my own style and brand of writing and performance. All of my personal beliefs about God, life, and society bled into my work and have evolved over time.
So, it would be fair to say that the things that have influenced me as a person also influenced my poetry. I believe that most art is a natural extension of the person creating it.
Competing at the 2006 National Poetry Slam competition in Austin, TX, was another huge influence on my understanding of what was possible with poetry. That, along with facilitating poetry workshops at 33rd St. Jail for youth offenders, influenced my commitment to the craft, especially as it relates to being a positive influence on others.
3. I was watching a performance of yours. You mentioned that you prefer the performative part of poetry to the printed page. Why is that?
That’s how I was introduced to it. I didn’t grow up reading poetry and quite frankly, struggled with reading comprehension. Listening to poetry is what moved me or kept me engaged. I think I prefer performing poems out loud because I like the way it sounds. I write with sound in mind. I tend to reach people who were also like me when I was younger and who preferred listening over reading. I also self-identify as an auditory learner so, generally speaking, it’s where my strength lies. Through listening and reciting poetry, I’ve become a better reader and writer. I love it all!
4. How do you view your role as the City of Orlando’s Poet Laureate, and how do you relate that to being a citizen of this city?
I view my role as very symbolic. I think it forces residents to reflect on the role poetry, storytelling, and other literary arts play or have played in their lives. At bare minimum, the role communicates that our City government values the role that poetry plays in civic life. And every few years, we’ll have slightly different representations of those expressions to formally occupy those public spaces and events.
The symbolism of my role and serving in it well has certainly elevated my public presence and influence in the city. As a citizen, I’ll continue to bring that popularity with me beyond my term as Poet Laureate, for whatever it’s worth.
5. What are your obligations as the Poet Laureate? Do you have to perform or write a certain amount?
My Poet Laureate contract requires me to perform poetry at six mutually agreed upon City-sponsored events per contract year. A few of those performances, out of the six, must be custom-written based on the nature of the event. I’m also required to lead our citywide “Words and Wonders” poetry contest as a way to engage residents in writing poetry on various themes. Contract specifics are mutually agreed upon each year while in term.
As a full-time poet and professional speaker, my obligations as Poet Laureate often overlap with my paid engagements outside of my official role. That’s a win for the City in terms of amplifying the awareness of the role, notwithstanding quality poetry performances in our region. And a win for me as I’ve been able to leverage the title towards launching into full-time entrepreneurship. It’s fair to say it’s been a mutually beneficial four years.
6. You mentioned to me that you worked with incarcerated youth offenders. How did that impact your writing and you as a person?
I don’t think working with incarcerated youth offenders had a significant impact on my writing. It did, however, impact my own awareness of the transformative power that exposure to poetry can have.
Watching incarcerated youth write poems after demonstrations and prompts, and seeing them reach for the vocabulary they have access to, to process and construct their worldviews and personal reflections in a way that’s meaningful to them, is powerful.
Spoken word poetry, in particular, makes it all the more accessible, given its kinship to everyday speech. Working with incarcerated youth made me hyper-aware that poetry is more than entertainment. It’s critical thinking. It’s social and emotional learning. It’s mental health. And I should never take this gift I have for granted.
It was my experience teaching at the jail, combined with my exposure to the National Poetry Slam, that inspired me to start my own open mic night, Diverse Word, which has been in operation since 2006. Spoken word artist and host, Marquis Lee, alongside co-host, John Study, run “Diverse Word” on the first Tuesday of every month at the Great Southern Box Co. in the Packing District.
7. I know that you are a father. Did working with kids who have been in trouble affect you as a father?
Well, when I was working with incarcerated youth at 33rd, I wasn’t a father yet. I was just a kid in my early 20s trying to change the world with what I had: poetry. I have, however, worked with all kinds of youth at various non-profits throughout my adult life and into fatherhood, and perhaps the opposite is true. I think the maturity I acquired during the course of fatherhood has helped me become a more sound mentor to the youth I’ve engaged with in my work life.
8. Poetry isn’t normally a lucrative endeavor, but it is satisfying. I know that you work doing public speaking. Is that a natural extension of being a poet, and a performer? Tell me about that part of your life.
You’re right. When most people think about poetry, a lucrative career is not the first thing that comes to mind. The speaking industry, however, is a billion-dollar industry. The question becomes “How does the skill set of spoken word poetry construction intersect with the speaking industry or marketing or entertainment or education?” Answering those questions and delivering poetry within those contexts is the substance of Shawn Welcome & Associates and how I’ve created a lane for myself.
