Lauren Lippeatt

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Biography

Full Name

Lauren Lippeatt

My History

I was a dramatic child. Ruled by emotions and moved by poetry, film, literature and art. Endlessly searching for the meaning of life even when I was five years old. I wrote rhyming poetry and stories about forest adventures and great escapes.

My search sailed me into a life in theatre, dreaming of fame, without the emphasis on fortune. I acted in plays, directed plays, ran lights and sound and props for plays. I mopped stages, I sold tickets, I constructed sets and struck sets. I got my Southern accent beat out of me in voice and diction classes.

After getting a BA in Theatre at UAB, I spent a year gallivanting and recovering from college in Birmingham, AL. Birmingham had been my home my entire life--apart from a two-year stint in Nashville during middle school--and I was aching to flee this little space and launch into The Real World. I launched into Chicago.

I spent four years in Chi-town. My childhood dreams of being an actress faded as I realized the lifestyle that went along with it. Casting calls, waitressing, constant auditioning, hunger... I chose another direction, one that I always felt in all my fibers: writing.

Back to school. I spent my final two years getting a Masters in Writing at DePaul University. Writing up a frenzy, keeping odd hours, ranting with writer friends, drinking red wine and missing my dear Alabama. Every time I came home my heart broke a little. The city I couldn't wait to leave after college brought me so much comfort from the frigid, concrete metropolis I'd renamed Home. After four years of little heart breaks I decided to do the craziest thing. I decided to move home. Not out of defeat, out of pure choice. I chose Birmingham.

Though I had run away from Birmingham, saying such things as "I'll never live in that tiny city again!" I was welcomed back with a thousand smiles from friends and our lovely little skyline.

The Return was blissful. Every where was something beautiful that I'd always known--the hills, the century-old trees, the southern drawl--but something about it was different. Being gone and coming home made me see the city rich and full of charm, culture, history and kindness. There are so many things to search through here.

So what does a soul seeking writer in love with the South do in Birmingham, AL? She teams up with a like minded Southern Lover and creates a magazine out of thin air.

I am from

Mount Olive, AL

I currently live in

Birmingham, AL