We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Larry Love a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Larry, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
I entered and won an international anti-tobacco poetry contest which I entered just months after the passing of my mother due to a tobacco related lung disease.
I wrote and submitted the poem the night before the entry deadline. It was one of the most difficult pieces I had ever written, particularly just after spending months as my mother’s caregiver and being by her bedside in her final days. Needless to say, I dropped a few tears on the keyboard as I weaved my words together.
Winning that contest led to performing the poem in a workshop and shooting a video for it. It was during this process that I became much more aware of the destruction that tobacco was doing within our community. Now, as a mentor, I perform and discuss that poem in the schools where I facilitate life mastery classes. It has become a cause that is very close to my heart.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Performing under the stage name, Larry Love, I am a professional Spoken Word Artist, Writer, Producer, and Director of several spoken word, musical stage plays and live events. I have performed and spoken in schools, prisons and at various other venues from Los Angeles to the Bahamas. My creative work tends to focus on social justice and/or the dynamics of relationships. I consider myself a voice for the voiceless and a champion for the people.
In performing and networking within the local world of poetry, I found myself amazed by the wealth of extraordinary unsung talent that populated my community. That discovery, coupled with a desire to spread my creative wings, lead to the formulation of my organization, Creative Love Network, with the goal of providing a platform to showcase some of this phenomenal talent. I sought to have poets viewed in the same light as singers, musicians and comedians, so that compensation for their talents became the norm. Adding an outreach wing to the company allowed me to also continue pursuing my passion for serving the community, facilitating life mastery workshops and mentoring the youth.
Understanding that no one can do it alone, I am blessed to have my wonderful wife, Ms, Diane, and the incredible Ms. Andrea Lee as co-owners, business partners and driving forces behind this ambitious organization called Creative Love Network. I have to also mention the legendary poet Mr. Anthony “Da Boogie man” Rucker with whom we also partner. Quickly, we have grown to become one of the most talked about poetry organizations in the greater Los Angeles area, and we are working hard to increase our reach and influence. Our primary goal remains to positively impact our community, highlight the talented poets in our camp and to put each artist in position to be compensated well for their skills and abilities. We are truly a family on a mission.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My primary goal, particularly as the CEO of the Creative Love Network, is to insure that the organization remains true to it’s roots and the belief that words absolutely have the power to positively impact lives and change the world for the better. The mission is to be a positive influence and an agent for change while uplifting the culture of poetry and fostering an unwavering sense of value in every poet we work with.
And on an individual basis, I am driven by the need to continually create dynamic pieces of poetry with an urgent Intent to highlight the need for social justice. My hope is to do my part to help make the world a place where freedom, liberty, justice and equality is had by all. These are the fights made for real poets. And I hope to earn the honor of having the title of “Poet” written upon my tombstone once I drop the mic for the final time. Hopefully, that’s at least 100 years from now!
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
As a poet, there is nothing more humbling than being granted creative access to someone’s emotions. There is a special energy felt when an audience is truly touched and moved by my words. The payoff for me comes in achieving the desired result of performing a particular poem. That desire could be to induce feelings of joy, sadness, inspiration, anger, humor or sensuality. It’s like magic when I know that a certain line is going to make the crowd go crazy with applause, shed a few tears or erupt in laughter. It is incredibly rewarding to deeply connect with people through something I created in the form of poetry.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Creativelovenetwork.com
- Instagram: @poetlarrylove @creativelovenetwork
- Youtube: poetlarrylove
