Jaki Shelton Green

Jaki Shelton Green was selected as the first North Carolina Piedmont Laureate in 2009.  She is the author of the poetry collections Dead on Arrival, Dead on Arrival and New Poems, Masks, Conjure Blues, singing a tree into dance, breath of the song, and the play Blue Opal.  She is the coeditor of two anthologies: Poets for Peace and Immigration, Emigration, Diversity. Her poetry has appeared in numerous publications such as the Crucible; the African-American Review; Obsidian; Poets for Peace; Immigration, Emigration, Diversity; Ms. magazine; Essence; KAKALAK; Callaloo; Cave Canem African American Writers Anthology; Pedestal; 27 Views of Hillsborough; Solo Press anthology; and The Sound of Poets Cooking anthology.  Jaki Shelton Green is a North Carolina Humanities Council Roads Scholar lecturer and keynote speaker on the arts and human services issues. She is also a frequent workshop facilitator for the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teachers.  As a creativity coach she facilitates workshops and trainings throughout the United States, Europe, the Caribbean Islands, and Central and South America.  In the summer of 2013 she was a featured commentator for the G.R.I.T.S. (Girls Raised in the South) anthology and served as the final judge for the distinguished Lucille Clifton Poetry Award.