Llewellyn Gannon Munzing is a multifaceted artist whose life story is as compelling as her creative works. Growing up in Portland, Oregon, in a household led by her single mother, Munzing faced numerous challenges, including poverty and emotional struggles. Despite these hardships including undiagnosed dyslexia and ADHD, Munzing found solace and purpose in the arts from a young age. Her love for writing, singing, dancing, acting, and drawing provided an outlet to overcome difficulties and thrive in her creative purpose.
We sat down with Munzing to learn more about her life and creative pursuits.
Give us the “cliff-notes” version of who Llewellyn Gannon Munzing is. Share your origin story.
I grew up with just my mother and my two sisters in Portland, Oregon, with no dads. And we lived halfway across the country from most of our relatives. My mother struggled with her emotions and had a hard time keeping jobs. So we were poor and life seemed to always have this edge of struggle. From a young age, I thrived artistically. I loved to write poems and songs, sing, dance, act, and draw. But I struggled in school and didn’t realize that I was dealing with undiagnosed dyslexia and ADHD. Because I loved art and the ability to get lost in it, I always felt I had a purpose in life. Opportunities to engage with this world artistically have been the driving force for me to work extra hard through my specific challenges.
I’ve always found jobs that allow me to be creative with space and time to follow my dreams. I became a beautician after high school, as well as a freelance photographer. Then I sold all of my belongings when I was 24 and bought a one-way ticket to Thailand to learn massage as well as photograph different parts of the world. I’ve continued traveling and documentary photography throughout the years to follow. I have two beautiful children that I’ve taken traveling all over the world with me. And I now own an art-based preschool.
That’s kind of my backstory, and for the last few years, I’ve been working diligently at creating and consolidating my poetry into books, sometimes adding music and creating visual poetic videos to accompany the spoken word album I made.
Share the story of how you discovered your passion for poetry and photography, and what inspired you to pursue these forms of artistic expression.
As a little girl, I couldn’t write very well, and I was actually pretty late learning to do that. So, I would recite streams of creative thought that were flowing through my mind. One time in second grade, I asked my mom to write down for me a little poem I had come up with about a brave mouse. So she wrote it down as I spoke it to her. And I brought that poem to school the next day to show the teacher. The teacher said, there is no way you wrote this. You did not write this, your mother wrote this. I said my mother wrote that, but I told her what to write. And the teacher dismissed it and said, no, you did not. And I did understand that there was a part of my brain that thought differently than the rest of it. The poet in me. Was I the mouse from my poem that was bravely going where no mouse had gone before? Maybe I hadn’t even thought of that. I remember going home and begging my mom to tell that teacher I wrote the poem.
Your poetry often explores themes of romantic relationships, grief, and healing. How do your personal experiences influence your writing, and what do you hope readers take away from your work?
My poetry is usually centered around what I’m going through or what thoughts are most prevalent in my mind. Self-love has been a major journey for me. And so my relationships take center stage because they are catalysts for growth and self-reflection.
A lot of times, my poems start out as chants. I will chant the same line to myself, over and over, kind of to help me cope, and I won’t even realize it at first. And then, a point comes when I realize I have the option to write it down or just get on with my life. If I write it down, I’m writing a poem. It will flow. If I don’t write it down, it’s kind of like a lost opportunity because I don’t get to pick when these lines come through.
There are two sides to my thinking. One side of me is analytical and wants to explore everything I see and understand why it’s happening. While the other side of me is fascinated by the unexplainable. The power of thought, all of it. So I have this stream of poetry that is related to simply analyzing life, and why we do what we do.
How do you believe poetry impacts and changes lives?
I become impacted by poetry when I feel heard. A poem that speaks to me or speaks from my heart can be extremely transitional and healing. Or simply entertaining. There are so many types of poetry, and hearing and feeling profound thoughts, feelings, and inspirations that are translated delicately Into this world can be quite the experience to witness. Inspiring as well.
You emphasize questioning the mysteries of every day in your poetry. Elaborate on what this means to you and how it shapes your creative process.
I think questioning the mysteries of life lines up with my overall overly analytical thoughtfulness. For instance, the poem I wrote, The Taste, really stems from the question, why on earth do we come here? And I’m aware that there are so many answers, so many perspectives. Something that occurred to me was that perhaps this human body is the only way to thoroughly enjoy certain things that this universe has to offer, such as flavor.
As a self-proclaimed student of life, how do travel and continued education contribute to your growth as an artist and individual?
For me personally, travel influences my awareness and it always seems to affect my style and my taste. I absorb my surroundings and naturally incorporate the newness that various places bring, colors and patterns, etc. It all plays a part in how I see the world and how I translate my thoughts. As well as Understanding how small I am standing in this huge world, as well as how big I am. Travel transforms my perspective. Education does the same thing. It gives us abilities and confidence. Influencing and hopefully enhancing knowledge, refining approach and skill.
Share your favorite channel of self-betterment that you have discovered and how it has impacted your artistic and personal development.
There are so many forms of self-betterment that I love and that have been so beneficial to my health. But I would have to hand it to meditation, hands down. Over the last few years, my marriage has gone through a separation, and I have been charged with dealing with some of the most excruciating emotions I have ever felt. And my meditation practice has become crucial to me in processing and healing those emotions. I never thought I had the patience for meditation, but through this process, I have realized that we meditate very easily. And things that I didn’t consider meditation in the past, like gardening, going for walks, guided meditation, or the good old-fashioned not doing anything and just staring off. I realize now those have been forms of meditation that I can more easily release my obsessive thinking. I have a new understanding of how they have played into a lifetime of processing and healing. And I have been easily able to add one form or another of meditation to my daily life. Meditation allows me to let go of overthinking and just give my brain space to heal from all of the thoughts. And every once in a while meditation gifts me a poem or creative idea that seems like it comes from left field.
What is next for you on your journey?
I’m currently editing my third poetry book. A book that focuses on the aftermath and the healing portion of relationships and self-betterment. It’s the sequel to Blue Appetite. I’m hoping to have that published by late 2025. On top of that, I’ve been diving into new forms of poetry and really pushing myself through storytelling. I’d like to share more poetry in the form of short stories, something that I’ve been creating in my spare time for a while now.
To connect with Munzing visit her website at www.llewellyngannon.com.
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