Meet Gina Carrillo | Aka Black Widow Poet / Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gina Carrillo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gina, how does your business help the community?
I wrote about Grief, memories of loved ones, about turning my pain into poetry and Art. Overcoming the deaths of my Father and then my husband.
I’ve written about my journey in beating stage 3 breast cancer, how I felt after my surgeries and what my new life was like.
Additionally, the fight I went through in stopping the unhealthy cycle of relationships that put me into domestic violence situations.
My Poetry helps people not feel so alone in what they went through or are going through. It gives them strength, motivation and inspiration. It is so heartwarming when they come up to me after a show and express what they went through and how they can relate. It brings me joy to know others look for my words to brighten their days!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
This is why I’m called Black Widow:

Is it because I’m a widow forever
Is it because of my broken heart
Could it be my love of spiders
Remembering, Esmeralda my pet
I’ve named all the ones I’ve met
My poetry may be dark at times
But there is a lot of love in these lines
Sometimes, when I’m in the darkness
I see flashes of red and black
Not all are ready to attack
Remember, if you see one near the window
This is why I’m called Black Widow

I’m a dark artist who writes gothic poetry and have been called a trauma poet. I relate myself to Edgar Alan Poe who is my favorite!
My artwork is colorful and expressive! It is usually impressionist acrylic on canvas. I create art for my book covers too!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I grew up in Franklin, which has the best Farmers market on Saturday and the cutest downtown too! I also work every other weekend at Torrid at the Cool Springs mall, we could definitely go there! There are so many delicious restaurants to eat at! The newest I enjoyed was Eastern Peak, it was gourmet Asian cuisine! My friends had lettuce wraps and pineapple martinis too! My best friend Heather Waterman is my brilliant Photographer and then Sarah Pagel aka Silence Wordsmith an amazing show host and writer came along and then we went to tin roof 2 where they had a dj there!
We go to poetry shows together too, also recently went shopping at the new outlets in Nashville!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to Shout out to my Moms. Elisamaria S. Flores and Vickie Carrillo who came to all my Doctor appointments and who also showed me love, support and encouragement! My mom Lisa is my Book Editor and she is now an Author too! My Mother in Law Vickie who I now visit in Chicago and perform there, is my late husband Louis’s mom. She has always been there for me too!
The Prodigal Poets is the Poetry Collective I created three years ago and they are Amazing Poets! Including Silenced Wordsmith, Marylou Knapkik, Franchesa Kirkpatrick, Brandon Long, and Patrick Smith! We met at Poetry shows and then started performing together and now have paid gigs and can do painting & poetry shows too! They inspire me and there are events where a group is needed and they show up and show out!

Website: https://www.facebook.com/share/1KGSjkn1sp/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Instagram: @blackwidowpoet

Facebook: Black Widow Poet

Other: @prodigalpoets on Instagram
@blackwidowpoet on tik tok

Image Credits
Heather Waterman with Momma Bear Nashville Photography