Laurin was born and raised in Nigeria. She has been in Canada for 3 years. She is going into her second year at Trent University. Laurin has been reading poems for as long as she can remember but she wrote and performed for the first time in 2019. Ever since then, she has been writing. She spends a lot of time in her head and because of that, she writes a lot because it gets overwhelming talking to herself. Laurin works on at least one poem almost every day. The fun fact is that most of her poems are fully written and edited within an hour to an hour and a half in a day.
With poetry, Laurin tells stories and acknowledges feelings and experiences. For her, that is the most beautiful thing about writing poems. When writing, she makes sure to write not only from her perspective but also from the perspective of people around her and people that she meets on a daily basis. Laurin wants people to be able to read her work and connect to it in some way. Her work tells her story without telling just her story. Laurin’s art is a voice and without voice, one isn’t heard.
What influenced you to use art as activism? How do you promote activism through your work?
Everyone has a voice and a right to be heard. With my art, I tell stories and I express feelings, personal feelings and feelings people can understand and make their own. I aim to give a voice to the voiceless. I would like people to know that telling their story in whatever way they choose to is completely okay. I have always been a big believer in everyone having a right to tell their stories. Something I realized early on is that people who look like me don’t get to tell their stories. With my art, I get to tell my story without fear of what people will think or say because, with poetry, people can draw their own meanings and understanding from it while also getting a hint of what I am trying to tell them. The beautiful thing about poetry is being able to tell a story in just a couple of lines and I’d like to believe that is what I do. In a world so quick to silence individuals, I am constantly fighting for people to have a voice, especially black people. I find it really difficult to talk about what I feel and think but it has become a lot easier to write about them in a way that people who feel that way in a similar way can relate to. I am trying to normalize having a voice, feelings, uncertainty, fear and so much more. The world is a very beautiful yet unequal and challenging place and I would like to help others understand that.
– Laurin Isiekwena
To see more of Laurin’s work:
Check out her poetry Instagram page! @the_unspokrn