From competing in national poetry competitions to running her own business, 20-year-old Katelyn Lucas is making a name for herself, and it all started at CSU East Bay.

Lucas has only been involved in the Bay Area spoken word scene for about a year and a half, yet she is already a member of a poetry slam team and co-hosts a major Bay Area spoken word venue every week.

She grew up in Hayward and started attending CSUEB in 2008 as a Communication and Ethnic Studies double major.

“I decided to attend a local school to have the opportunity to work at my family’s business in Hayward,” said Lucas. “I am the fourth generation of Foothill Locksmith Inc. in Hayward.”

Lucas has had an interest in creative writing since she was a child, but had no sense of her own identity as a poet.

She got her first true feel for the art when she attended an event her freshman year at CSUEB titled, “Spoken Word Unleashed with Zora Howard, Amir Sulaman and Ise Lyfe.”

“It was mind blowing to witness expression in such an engaging format,” said Lucas. “I had never read any of my poems to more than a close friend or two. The night of that event, I was inspired by the artists to pursue opportunities to share my words.”

After that, Lucas decided to sign up for the Berkeley Poetry Slam and a year later she was co-hosting the show. She is also now a member of the 2011 Berkeley Slam Team.

In March of 2011, Lucas traveled to Columbus, OH to compete in the Women of the World Poetry Slam, an all-female competition that offers workshops and community building opportunities for all attendees.

“It was my first national poetry event and I had an amazing experience,” said Lucas.

This past month, she traveled to Boston, MA to compete with the Berkeley Slam Team at the National Poetry Slam.

Aside from the competing Lucas has also recently released her self-published book of poems.

She has taken her passion for the art a step further by establishing her own business with CSUEB student Justin Eaglin, 21. Their business is based out of Alameda County and is called “Voice of a Generation.”

“We describe ourselves as a multimedia arts collectively working to preserve forms of self expression, including but not limited to spoken word,” said Lucas. “We have a website launching this fall, videos forthcoming and plan to participate in and host a variety of shows across the bay.”

“Voice of a Generation” also has its own T-shirt and hoodie clothing line as well.

Lucas is collaborating with many different poets and plans to begin hosting poetry workshops in a handful of local schools.

“We’ve distributed a ton of our clothing items in the last year and have arranged performances at CSUEB, Mills College, SF State and USF,” said Lucas. “We are looking to pick up speed this year and are very excited to see what opportunities lie ahead.”

Lucas’ future plans are to continue pursuing opportunities in the arts and would also like to branch out into other areas as well.

“I thoroughly enjoy developing my writing, sharing my experiences and building community through dialogues,” said Lucas. “I have always found great enjoyment in mentoring youth and would love to pursue more opportunities mentoring through art and writing.”