Salaam Green selected as the city of Birmingham’s inaugural poet laureate

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The city of Birmingham has named writer and educator Salaam Green as its first poet laureate.

“This prestigious position recognizes Ms. Green’s outstanding contributions to the literary arts and her commitment to fostering a deeper appreciation for poetry within our community,” the city said in a news release.

Green has spent more than 16 years as an arts educator, healer and community leader. She is the founder and director of Literary Healing Arts and a Road Scholar for the Alabama Humanities Alliance. A certified trainer for the Kellogg Foundation’s Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation initiative, Green also leads “Write to Heal” workshops — a series of seminars geared at instructing both individuals and organizations in using poetry, writing and storytelling to reclaim their voices and transform their lives.

In 2018, Green helped conduct a series of “Truth Booths” during the massive For Freedoms public art project, where she guided participants through conversations about social and environmental justice. Green is a published author whose work has been featured in the Alabama Arts Journal.

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In Birmingham, Green has worked with a number of organizations including the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Magic City Poetry Festival, the month-long celebration of poetry founded by Ashley M. Jones, the state of Alabama’s first Black and youngest poet laureate.

Green will begin her two-year term in January. Her tenure in the post will run from 2024 through 2025, AL.com reported.

“I am thrilled that Salaam Green will be Birmingham’s inaugural poet laureate,” Mayor Randall L. Woodfin said. “She has demonstrated a commitment to our arts community through the creation of her literary works, by hosting countless writer workshops as well as teaching our young people the power of the pen. What better person to lead the way?”

The poet laureate position is an honorary position and Green’s responsibilities will include making local appearances, facilitating public and educational programs, and building advocacy and community through poetry. According to the city, the poet laureate also will receive an honorarium stipend of $5,000 over the course of the term.

Green describes her appointment to the post as an “honor.”

“This is a duty, a privilege, and as a citizen, it is a calling to be the people’s poet in a city rich in its foundation of justice and its progression towards unity,” said Green. “As the inaugural poet laureate alongside the noble, diverse, inclusive, and intergenerational people of the Magic City we shall emerge towards the inseparably entwined journey of belonging through the healing power of words together.”

The Alabama State Council on the Arts is funding stipends for poets laureate in two cities — Birmingham and Mobile — to have a first-time city poet laureate program.

In an interview with AL.com, Elliot Knight, the council’s executive director, said the idea came in part from seeing how such programs had worked in cities outside of Alabama, including Columbia, South Carolina; and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. So far, the poets laureate positions are defined the same way in Birmingham and Mobile, and the selection processes are similar.

Mobile’s search has come down to four finalists, identified by the Mobile Arts Council as Alex Lofton, Danyale Williams, Roslyn Spencer and Charlotte Pence. A final selection by Mayor Sandy Stimpson has not yet been announced.