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Lacey Roop
Lacey Roop
01:12

Lacey Roop

Austin, TX USA

"Never lose your sense of empathy or awe, and be proud of your existence; because your existence is a wonder, and something to be in awe of."

Career Roadmap

Lacey's work combines: Art, Writing, and Being Creative

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Day In The Life

Spoken Word Poet

I'm a spoken word artist and discuss gender & sexuality, marginalized voices, and women-empowerment through my work.

Skills & Education

Advice for getting started

I used writing poetry as a way to write myself out of depression and get away from negativity.

Here's the path I took:

  • High School

  • Bachelor's Degree

    English Language and Literature, General

    Texas State University-San Marcos

Life & Career Milestones

I've taken a lot of twists and turns

  • 1.

    Raised in Tupelo, Mississippi and is the first of four living generations to leave Mississippi.

  • 2.

    Being gay, she felt disconnected in her hometown, where gayness was made invisible.

  • 3.

    Headed toward Seattle, the farthest she could get from home by car; stopped in Austin, never left.

  • 4.

    Didn't start writing until Austin: "I didn't know I even had the capacity to do what I do now."

  • 5.

    Says: "I was always a writer at heart, but I was never in an environment where that was encouraged."

  • 6.

    Though some of her poems come from a dark place, they bloom into something beautiful.

  • 7.

    Says: Just like a tomato plant won't grow in the desert, people thrive in different environments.

  • 8.

    The beauty of life, she says, is the people you see, the stories you tell, and how they affect us.

Defining Moments

How I responded to discouragement

  • THE NOISE

    Messages from Society in general:

    You're crazy. This is not the way you should live. This is not the way you're supposed to be.

  • How I responded:

    I used writing poetry as a way to write myself out of depression and get away from negativity.

Experiences and challenges that shaped me

Click to expand

  • I am gay and I've known that for a very long time. I couldn't be in a place where that was invisible and was taught to be invisible.

  • I'm the first person out of four living generations to leave Mississippi. It was too microscopic of a place for me and I knew that I had to leave. I decided to go to Seattle, but ended up stopping in Austin, TX and have been here ever since.