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Biography

Jackie Shelton Green
Jaki Shelton Green
"My mission as a writer has always been to help amplify the stories, the truths, on paper... to help transform humanity one poem, one verse at a time. I believe that our collective missions can be manifested in my role as Piedmont Laureate."

Jaki Shelton Green, 2009 Piedmont Laureate, has received a variety of awards and honors for her work, including the North Carolina Award for Literature (2003), Artist-in Residence at The Taller Portobelo Artist Colony (2006) in Panama, and the 2007 Sam Ragan Award.  Her poetry has appeared in publications such as The Crucible, The African-American Review, Obsidian, Poets for Peace, Ms. Magazine, Essence Magazine, KAKALAK, Callaloo, Cave Canem African American Writers Anthology, and The Pedestal Magazine.  

Her publications (Carolina Wren Press) include Dead on Arrival, Dead on Arrival and New Poems, Masks, Conjure Blues, singing a tree into dance, Blue Opal (a play), and breath of the song (which was cited as one of the two Best Poetry Books of the Year by the Independent Weekly).  

Ms. Green has conducted workshops and presented readings throughout the U.S, Europe, the Caribbean Islands, Central and South America.  Additionally, her poetry has been choreographed by groups such as African American Dance Ensemble, Two Near the Edge, and the ChoreoCollective. Ms. Green holds a Master’s degree in Community Economic Development from the Development Training Institute, University of Maryland and maintains an independent consultancy specializing in nonprofit board training, arts and education, and the humanities.  In addition, she continues to teach creative writing to marginalized populations of our society including the homeless, incarcerated, and the writer-as-survivor.  She collaborates as a creativity coach with human service agencies and corporations using writing and creativity as tools of healing and transformation.  Her workshops, such as “Building Community through Poetry and the Arts” are available through the North Carolina Humanities Council Speaker’s Bureau.

 
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