We were lucky to catch up with Victora B. Calhoun recently and have shared our conversation below.

Victora, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

If I could go back in time I would’ve started my creative career sooner; my craft would’ve been perfected by now! But I don’t regret it because my experiences as a grown woman differ from my experiences as young girl; If it wasn’t for those dark times I wouldn’t be able to flow like I do! So everything happens when it’s supposed to.

When I was a little girl, I found joy in all things creative like writing, drawing, & singing. As I got older I found myself leaving my creative side behind to fit in with the “cool kids.” I’m gonna be honest ~ I wanted boys to like me! Where I’m from sitting in the park, writing poetry wasn’t what the boys were checking for. Unfortunately, our parks weren’t the safest places to be. & there weren’t any places for us to “perform” poetry which is something I always liked watching people do. So I spent a lot of time doing just about everything you can think of EXCEPT be creative … if you catch my drift. I was just scared of what people would think of me. Being laughed at by my peers was such a fear of mine that for the longest I hid my art from the world. I chose acceptance from my peers over being my authentic self & that is what I do regret.

I remember one time in my first semester of college I saw in a school email that my university was having poetry night. I had plans to go listen. The guy I was dating was a lot older than me & made me feel so lame about going to poetry night. He laughed a little in my face & said, of all the things we could do tonight why you wanna do that?” And at that moment I thought to myself, “Yeah, why would I do that? How lame.”

After that day, I forgot poetry as a genre. I didn’t write, read, or listen to poetry. Instead, I accepted verbal & physical abuse until I came to my senses.

After we broke up, college was a dark time for me. I had created a personality that was based on who he liked; after we broke up I had to find myself again. During that time, I experienced another abusive relationship, homelessness, & severe depression which caused me to self medicate.

In my last year of college I gave birth to my son, Zachary. Having him made me feel as though I had a new shot at life; I felt reinvented … like I could do anything! I also noticed that as I freed myself from bad people & bad habits it became so easy to write my poems. I was inspired to tell my story. I aspired to be a mother who encouraged their son to be unique VS fitting in & following the masses. And that is what I am doing now ~ Telling my story through poems while simultaneously inspiring my community to be creative. Our mantra is “healing the hood one poem at a time.”

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?

I’m a black poet, aspiring mogul, hard working, single mommy who prides myself on originality & authenticity. I’m from the eastside of Atlanta, GA. I plan, promote, & perform at my Hood Healing Poetry Events in Atlanta, GA on a mission to showcase the hood’s creatives. Hood Healing Poetry Events invites people who may have experienced a disconnect from the creative community due to life problems or may be afraid of their artistic side. I’m building a community for creatives to feel accepted and comfortable sharing their stories. Or simply come watch us heal through spoken words. Let’s get vulnerable! What’s the worst that could happen? Somebody, somewhere is going to feel it.

What I’ve found consistent about each event is that I always make people who come to listen feel comfortable enough to volunteer to perform their poems. Their eagerness to get vulnerable in a room full of strangers lets me know we are making an impact & that is my favorite thing about Hood Healing Poetry Events.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Something non creatives will struggle to understand about my journey as a creative is that I see art in a very abstract way. At a Hood Healing Poetry event you never know what acts you’re going to see! Yes, we perform poetry but we also encourage comedians, dancers, rappers, singers & instrumentalists to sign up to perform too. We may not all look the same or come from the same place but what we have in common is we each have a unique story to tell & we’re ready to be heard.

Another thing I want people to understand about me specifically is that I’m a hood creative; I love the hood & the hood loves me! So it’s essential that I incorporate “hood aesthetics” into my brand & into my events because that’s home to me. I want my people to feel represented! I find beauty in ghetto s#!t. And I think if we stop allowing society to tell us what’s beautiful about us as a people then being hood or ghetto will be the new norm. Regardless, I’m going to always represent for the hood.

Is there a mission driving your creative journey?

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