Austin Lee Basis was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. An actor by trade, Austin has always found expression through drawing & writing. He commonly uses poetry to help him "get into character" by writing poems in that particular character's voice. His constant search for answers about life, love & self find their way onto the page with a healthy mixture of honesty, edginess, self-reflection, heart, and humor. Austin finds poetry the freest of all the written forms & writes with an intentional disregard for established poetic structures. He doesn't write when he wants to- he writes when he NEEDS to.