Jaki Shelton Green is the ninth Poet Laureate of North Carolina. Some of her recognitions include Forbes Magazine 50 Over 50 Lifestyle List, 2021 UNC Chapel Hill Frank B. Hanes Writer in Residence, 2019 Academy of American Poet Laureate Fellow, 2019 NC Humanities Council Award, 2014 NC Literary Hall of Fame Inductee, 2009 NC Piedmont Laureate appointment, 2003 recipient of the North Carolina Award for Literature, NC Museum of Art Poet Laureate in Residence. Recently retired professor of Documentary Poetry at Duke University Center for Documentary Studies, author of ten poetry collections, vinyl and cd recordings. Her business SistaWRITE, provides writing retreats for women writers (United States, Europe, Northern Africa). She is the poetry editor for WALTER Magazine. (Photo credit: Samantha Everette.)