Today we’d like to introduce you to Ms.AyeVee.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I started writing/journaling when I was still in grade school. Maybe 7 or 8 years old. Those writings eventually took poetic form but I never thought I could be a spoken word artist or Slam poet. For me, writing was therapy. It wasn’t until about four years ago when I got invited to my first open mic that everything changed. I was wildly nervous but I decided to perform one of my poems.
The crowd was really supportive and the host asked me to come back the next week. There’s something special that happens when a person feels wanted. At that moment, I decided no matter what I was going to come back and that’s exactly what I did, kept coming back. I started going to other open mics, getting invited to feature & travel. When I first started performing poetry, I was going to 10-12 open mics a month. I felt reborn and filled with purpose. I was no longer just some depressed girl looking for a place that felt more like home, I was a Poet. In a way, I had always been a poet. I guess, I just needed to give myself permission to be one.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I think with most creatives, you’ll find that we all have some sort of testimony of hardship and struggle. Depression has always been both, my biggest adversary and a channel for my greatest creativity. The gift and the curse of being an artist.
It can be rough to be so raw, to be so honest and vulnerable. Especially with poetry but I challenge myself to always talk about the things people say I shouldn’t. I pride myself on telling authentic stories, in spite of resistance. I think there will always be people who will try to silence your truth and our work is to tell it anyway.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
The Clark County Poet Laureate, Bruce Isaacson describes…
“Ashley Vargas—Ms. AyeVee—is a performance fireball of metaphor and feeling, flashing light on the struggles of divine average souls. She brings that moment of instant recognition that binds artist to audience, that makes us root for her. Beyond the trash-traps of subjugation commercialism that dominates public messaging, her poems reveal there can be a better way.”
My work has been published by Helen: a literary magazine, Other Magazine, Zeitgeist Press, Petite Hound Press, The Red Rock Review & Double Down by Nevada Humanities.
If I am most proud of anything, it is my ability to connect with people through my poems. It’s amazing how many stories we share.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success, to me, is to be fully present & happy. I have found myself in moments of pure bliss while performing. So I know I’m on the right track.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msayevee/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MsAyeVeePoetry/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/MsAyevee
Image Credit:
Photo by Connie Ann Santos https://instagram.com/conomatic
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