Bio |

John Lacarbiere III, born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, is a national spoken word artist, author, publisher, and teacher. John started writing at the age of 8 inspired by local and national hip-hop artists. It wasn’t until after Katrina where he got involved professionally. In 2008 he released his first book “I Write To…” since then John has released 6 other titles and 4 spoken word albums. He also performs and has put together several events of his own, including a weekly show every Thursday titled “Word Connections.” John received the award for “Writer of the Year” at the 2012 Write NOLA Awards. In October of 2012, John started his own publishing company SWMN Publishing LLC. John has featured on stages all over the country including New York City, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Dallas, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Mobile, and Augusta to name a few.In 2014 John started teaching a spoken word/poetry class at ReNew Accelerated High School in New Orleans. John also does a lot of community work feeding the homeless every Saturday with friends. He also mentored at risk/homeless youth at the Covenant House. John is currently the assistant dean at a unique high school where some of the students are at risk while others are either trying to graduate early or catch up in New Orleans Monday-Friday by day and continues to create all day every day.

John was born on August 23, 1984. His parents are Charleyne and John Lacarbiere III. He’s the oldest of three children, a sister Kendra Lacarbiere and a brother Jordan Lacarbiere. He attended Fisk-Howard Elementary school in Mid City New Orleans where he entered the Spanish Emersion program, which was a program that taught all sciences and math in Spanish. Fisk-Howard stopped at 5th grade. He attended A.D. Crossman for 6th grade. From there he went to Thurgood Marshall Middle Magnet School. He was in the advanced placement program there where he received high school credits. After graduating from middle school, John attended John McDonogh Sr. High School. He was in the honors program. John learned Japanese his first year at John Mac. John excelled academically throughout high school. It was in high school where he found his passion for poetry, One of his 11th grade teachers, Ms. Logan, introduced the class to several poets in the city. One being Peter Muhammad. After several workshops with Peter, John fell in love with poetry. Later on that year the class published their very own book of poetry titled “Young Minds.” John graduated valedictorian from John Mac with a 4.14 GPA. He later attended Dillard University where he majored in Biology.

During his third year at Dillard, tragedy happened. The city of New Orleans was hit by a major storm known to the world as Hurricane Katrina. John evacuated with friends to Houston, leaving behind his father. His mother and siblings evacuated to Alabama, later becoming Ohio. In Houston, John often hung out with friends and worked. He was working at Whole Foods Market before the storm hit, after the storm he maintained that same job in Houston. John communicated with his displaced family as often as he could. But his father was missing. It wasn’t until later that year when John found out that his father drowned during the storm. Poetry was one of his outlets to deal with the stress of katrina as well as coping with some of the guilt he had for losing his father.

A year after Katrina, John moved back to New Orleans, where he started sharing his poetry on the social media outlets. He gained a lot of popularity via Myspace and Facebook. Many people asked if performed on stage. At the time John had performed on stage before but never at an actual poetry club. He found out about an event at “Dreams” night club and started performing there regularly. John soon became a household name amongst the other poets in the community. John later got a second job at Borders Bookstore and started his own open mic there. Borders was also the first bookstore to carry the book “I Write To…” John was also enrolled in Delgado Community college, where he finished the EMT program.

Due to some personal issues, John took a step back from the stage and decided to write and record. In 2010 he started a popular story among his Facebook friends titled “Murder He Wrote,” a Halloween series about a serial killer that possessed a magical pen. In 2011 he recorded and released his first spoken word CD “I Am Poetry.” John also taught creative writing for a year at St. Mary’s Academy aiding Elizabeth Fletcher. After roughly 2 yrs off the scene, John received a call from, Carl “Smut Da Poet” Smothers to perform at one of his shows. After that show a new fire was lit and John never looked back…

In 2012, John put together his first major spoken word showcase titled “Word Connections” named after one of his book projects that featured writers from all over the world coming together for charity. The event was a huge success. John later on teamed up with Smut & Dave Lemon to form “The Big 3” a nickname given to them by friends because collectively they may have put on what may have been the largest spoken word event the city has ever had since Katrina titled “Sex Vs Love” They also put together several other themed events. His publishing company also released a book titled “Day Dreams and Liquor” by poet Brandon Labeaux.

In 2013 John transitioned from being a part time to a full time artist. John has been successfully publishing books, performing and featuring all over the country, and recording CDs. One of his books “Love Organically” can be found in Whole Foods Market in Metairie, LA. John also hosts a weekly event titled “Word Connections” held every Thursday at the Three Palms bar and grill on Franklin, In New Orleans, LA. He Now sits on the board of WHODATPOETS. A organization that serves as a home to every single poet in the New Orleans metro area and surrounding areas. The organization does not discriminate on skill level, age, ethnicity, sexual preference or any other personal description. The organization serves as a unified front for other businesses as well as spoken word communities so that they can embrace and work with each other on a professional level. Doing everything from speaking at schools in the New Orleans community to performing in the New Orleans Arena.

in 2014, John joined an organization called Enriched, they hire artists to “Teach what they love” serving as fill ins for schools who may have teachers out or there’s a need for a particular course to be taught. Instead of hiring a substitute teacher, schools will contact the organization to create a more “enriched” learning experience while their main teacher is out. In August John, was contracted by “Community Works” an organization similar to enriched except they hire artists to be actual teachers. John now teaches a spoken word/poetry class at ReNew Accelerated Academy. John not only wants to be successful as a spoken word artist but as an actor as well. John was recently casted in an upcoming Will Smith movie titled “Focus.” He has also done a few roles in small plays. John paints, cooks, does photography, writes short stories, as well as plays. John’s mission as a artist is to not be limited to one craft and to use his artistry to not only inspire others but also create the change he wants to see in the world. John is a member of the #AWAYTEAM, an organization headed by DJ RQ Away, a collective of individuals who use their talents to promote good energy and spark change in their communities. John mentors homeless kids at The Covenant House, where he serves as a resident advisor. John also helps organize a weekly feeding of the homeless in the city of New Orleans with his friends. John is very passionate about helping others and wants his work to reflect that…