Rising Stars: Meet LeJuane Bowens

Today we’d like to introduce you to LeJuane Bowens. 

Hi LeJuane, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
The short version of this story goes: I started writing in 3rd grade as part of a curriculum fair at my school. From there I develop a passion to create worlds with words. My sophomore year introduced me to poetry and I fell in love with the art form ever since. In 2007, I stumbled across two open mics in the city of Fayetteville called Mojoe’s and Coffee Scene and started to perform my poems there. As to how I got to where I am now, I’d say it was a lot of trial and tribulation, good and bad, failure and success. But, through it all, it put me in the place I need to be along with putting me in place so that I know my purpose should never be eclipsed by popularity. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Man, it has not been. If anyone tells you that it’s been a smooth road then they are concealing the scars that every artist goes through. I’ve been homeless, lost friends, became the failure I never wanted to become. But it all helped me become a better artist and a better human being because what you put into the universe will definitely come back to you tenfold. Trust me when I say that I have walked both sides of the villain and the hero. The good side suits me way better than being the bad guy. 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Well, I am a multitude of things. I am a poet, spoken word artist, creative writing facilitator, author, comic con panelist, and father. All of those titles are what I specialize in lol. But the biggest thing that I am known for is Spoken Word. The art is so beautiful and because of it, I’ve done so much. I’ve won slam competitions, I competed with and against some of the best poets in the world, and it opened the doors for me to do so many more things with the arts. The thing/things I am most proud of in the career I’ve had thus far are winning the 2014 Southern Fried Poetry Festival with the Bull City Slam Team (S/O to Dasan Ahanu, L.B., Ishine, Micha Romans, and Wendy Jones) and as of late, creating a creative writing workshop for the John F. Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts. I believe what sets me apart from a lot of writers is the ability to make my work sound more like a conversation than a poem or a story. Conversing connects people so when I write, I treat it as such and make each moment seem like it’s a talk with a good friend. 

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Well, I see my industry getting ready to be represented better in the Grammys. It’s been numerous Spoken Word artists getting overlooked by people with audiobooks and now that the industry I about to change how that looks for people, it’s about to become a beautiful thing for the culture. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: http://poetrynmotionnc.vistaprintdigital.com
• Instagram: @eljapoetry
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/eljapoetry
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/eljapoetry
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ElJaBowens

Image Credits:
Jackson Hall
Wil Warasila