Meet Lauren Eggert-Crowe | Poet

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lauren Eggert-Crowe and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lauren, what are you inspired by?
I’m inspired by artists who are radical in their vision for a just world. I’m lucky to have a network of friends and colleagues, in the Los Angeles literary community and beyond, who intertwine activism with their art. All of the writers I admire are speaking up for Palestine, Congo, Haiti and Sudan right now. They are reading poems at protests, building altars at vigils for Gaza, and donating their books to fundraisers. For them, slogans like #LandBack, #BlackLivesMatter, and #FreePalestine are not just movement hashtags but visions of the world we want to create, and they challenge me to materially contribute to these visions every day. Writers like Randa Jarrar, Myriam Gurba, Angel Nafis, Shira Erlichman, Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, Ashaki M. Jackson, Cynthia Guardado, and Rachelle Cruz. I’m inspired by artists for whom art and political advocacy are inseparable. I found myself very moved when Sinéad O’Connor (Shuhada’ Sadaqat) passed away last year at too young an age. She was fearless in speaking truth to power, and she got mercilessly pilloried for it. Reading about her life inspires me to ask myself, in what ways can I be braver? In what ways can my words form cracks in the walls of empire? I don’t think I’m half as brave as she was, but I’d like to be. The writers in my community inspire me to be.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I would consider my writing career somewhere between emerging and established. Though I’m proud of the work I’ve put into my writing career, I only got here because of the support and education I’ve received along the way. I’ve been writing poetry since I was a kid, but it wasn’t until I took some creative writing classes in college that I gained awareness of craft and lyricism. That was also when I learned how to submit my writing for publication. I was so excited to get my first poetry acceptance, from Puerto Del Sol in 2005. My grad school professors and classmates at the University of Arizona also helped me sharpen my poetic skills. I felt like I was on a roll in grad school. I was getting publication credits, going to readings, writing all the time. But once I graduated and started a full-time job, I got a bit more directionless. Virtual writing sessions with my friend and former classmate Lisa Ciccarello pulled me out of that,

But I was still yearning for a writing community. When I moved to Los Angeles, it took awhile for me to find it, but once I started going to readings, everything sort of accumulated from there. I joined Women Who Submit and met half of my close friends through working with that organization. I got invited to readings. I started getting poetry chapbooks accepted for publication. I presented on a panel at BinderCon and led submission workshops.

Though I’m proud of my published writing, I’m more excited to use this interview to help other writers understand how to get their work out there. I know what it’s like to feel overwhelmed, wondering how unpublished writing becomes a book. Not everyone knows how to get published, or even how to meet other writers.

For women and non-binary writers, I recommend looking at the resources at Women Who Submit, which will help you identify journals and presses to submit your writing to. Look at the publishing credentials of your favorite authors and submit to the magazines that they have been published in. Start following the writers you meet on social media, and then follow the writers that they recommend, and then keep an eye out for events that they advertise. Go to those events and meet more writers. Look at the calendars of your local bookstore or library. Most importantly, find ways to support your friends and community. I got invited to read at readings because I showed up to my friends’ readings. I was asked to be on a BinderCon panel because I had been volunteering my time with Women Who Submit. When you’re in reciprocal relationship with the people around you, when you find ways to support each other, so many exciting experiences can open up for you.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There would be a lot of hikes and staircase walks. We’d do the Vermont Canyon/Hogback Trail loop starting at The Greek in Griffith Park and going all the way up to Mount Hollywood. We would also take a staircase walk either in Franklin Hills or in the hills above Los Feliz Blvd, so we could walk by the Ennis House. For brunch, we’d get the chicken & waffle at Poppy & Rose or the runny egg sandwich at The Douglas. Other places we’d go out to eat over the week: cocktails at The Edendale, The Virgil, or Tabula Rasa, lunch at Home, pastries at Friends & Family, dinner at Salazar, street taco crawl in East Hollywood. We’d also do a coffee shop walking tour, hitting up Cafecito Organico, Cafe Tropical, Muddy Paw, and Dinosaur Coffee.

I’d have to take them to Skylight Books, of course, since it’s my neighborhood bookstore. For entertainment, if they’re the karaoke type, we’d hit up The Venue in Koreatown or the SemiTropic in Echo Park. If they like comedy, we’d check out a UCB Franklin show, either improv, sketch or standup. Depending on the season, I might take them to a UCLA gymnastics meet. Where else can you spend less than $20 to see former Olympians compete?? It’s amazing. If they like a fancy night on the town, and if I can get an invite, I would take them to The Magic Castle. If it’s the summertime, we’d go to a KCRW Summer Nights event. Halloween? The Haunted Hayride or Carved at Descanso Gardens.

If it’s one of my writer friends visiting me, we would definitely go to a reading, either at Skylight, Stories, or North Figueroa Books. We have so many great writers in Los Angeles, and so many great venues that host readings and book talks.

Other things I like to do in L.A.: pottery parties at POT Studios, roller skating at Moonlight Rollerway, outdoor movies through Cinespia or StreetFood Cinema, picnics in Elysian Park or Barnsdall Park, opening receptions at various art galleries, and wandering around museums like The Hammer, the Japanese American National Museum, and MOCA.

Obviously, we wouldn’t have time for all of these things! But there would be a lot of options.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I met most of my friends in the L.A. literary community when I joined Women Who Submit, a literary organization that encourages women and non-binary writers to submit their work for publication, in an effort to create equity in publishing. I’ve been organizing with this group for eight years now, and I couldn’t be prouder of the work that we’ve accomplished. Alyss Dixson, Ashaki M. Jackson and Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo founded an incredible organization.

I’ve been lucky to read at several reading series in Los Angeles over the past twelve years, some of them still in existence, some not, but I’d like to give them all, and their creators, a shoutout. Vermin on the Mount, run by Jim Ruland, Roar Shack, run by David Rocklin, Hot Dish, run by J. Ryan Stradal and Summer Block, Dirty Laundry Lit, run by Natashia Deón, Rhapsodomancy, run by Wendy C. Ortiz, Hitched, run by Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, 90×90, run by Chiwan Choi and Jessica Ceballos y Campbell, It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere, run by Julia Ingalls, Griffith Park Reading Series, run by Sara Finnerty Turgeon and Anne-Marie Kinney, Enter>Text, run by Henry Hoke and Marco DiDomenico, and La Palabra, run by Armine Iknadossian.

I think more people should know about the incredible artist consulting work of Beth Pickens of Homework Club, a very affordable monthly workshop practice for artists.

I also owe a great debt to my family, who have been supportive of my writing endeavors for my whole life, and who have always encouraged me.

Finally, I’d like to give a shoutout to all the mutual aid organizations in Los Angeles. There’s one in almost every neighborhood. Many of these groups formed during the first year of the pandemic. These are groups of people, unaffiliated with any non-profit or religious organization, raising funds and organizing to provide food, services, and supplies to housing-insecure and food-insecure neighbors. Following the efforts of the extended LA Mutual Aid network, and helping out where I can, has taught me a lot about organizing, and how community means more than “people who share your interests and hang out with you.” Protecting and caring for the people in our neighborhoods strengthens communities and prepares us for all these various looming economic and ecological catastrophes. If you want to effect change, you can contribute in lots of small, effective ways.

Website: www.laureneggertcrowe.com

Other: You can find info about Women Who Submit at womenwhosubmitlit.org

Image Credits
First photo (main story photo) Wes Kriesel