College of the Ouachitas student is Wednesday featured poet
Poet Taylor Garrett, of Poyen, will be this week’s feature for Wednesday Night Poetry at Kollective Coffee+Tea.
The regular open mic for all poets will begin at 6:30 p.m. Garrett will perform at 7 p.m., followed by another open mic. Admission is free and open to all.
A sophomore at College of the Ouachitas, Garrett is working on an engineering degree. He graduated from Magnet Cove High School in 2016 and has an associate degree in mechatronics.
According to a news release, Garrett writes primarily about his personal experience as a transgender person. “I am trying to be as holistically human as I can possibly be,” he said. “What inspires me to write is the struggle. Writing is an artistic outlet that I can rely on. I try to create something relatable. I want to let all people know they are not alone.”
Garrett was home-schooled by his artist mother for his elementary and middle school years. “I was around a lot of poets and writers as a kid and became immersed in literature. I started writing when I was 6, but I have dyslexia and couldn’t physically write stuff down. So I would pay my older brother to write down what I was saying.”
A martial artist, Garrett is a vegan who rides a motorcycle and considers himself a feminist. “I also have social anxiety and Wednesday Night Poetry is helping me cope with that.”
He works at his father’s store, Taylor’s Grocery and Hardware. Email budonfoot@yahoo.com for more information.