NC Poet Laureate to Keynote N.C. A&T Student Honors Convocation

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (March 19, 2019) – North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University will honor high-achieving students during the annual Student Honors Convocation at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 21, in the Richard B. Harrison Auditorium. North Carolina’s ninth and newly appointed poet laureate, Jaki Shelton Green, will keynote the event.

Green is the first African American and third woman named to the post. Upon her appointment, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper stated that, “Jaki Shelton Green brings a deep appreciation of our state’s diverse communities to her role as an ambassador of North Carolina Literature.”

Green teaches documentary poetry at the Duke University Center for Documentary Studies. Over the course of her decades-long career she has been a visiting professor in the Carlow University MFA Program, a Lenoir-Rhyne University Writer-in-Residence and a Duke University Teaching for Equity Fellow. She has also participated in opportunities at the Taller Portobelo Artist Colony in Portobelo, Panama, the University of Panama, the Department of Cultural Resources for Brazil, the North Carolina Turkish Association, the Alhambra Cultural Center in Marrakech, Morocco, the North Carolina Symphony and the North Carolina African American Cultural Heritage Commission.

She’s the author of eight collections of poetry: “Dead on Arrival,” “Dead on Arrival and New Poems,” “Masks,” “Conjure Blues,” “Singing a Tree Into Dance,” “Breath of the Song,” “Feeding the Light,” and “I Want to Undie You.” Her poetry has been published in over 80 national and international anthologies and featured in magazines such as Essence and Ms.

Green was recently awarded the 2019 Lucy Bramlette Patterson Award from the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of North Carolina and was named a 2019 North Carolina Black History Month Honoree. Winner of an expansive list of awards and recognitions, Green has received the Phi Beta Kappa Award, the North Carolina Award for Literature (the highest award the state can bestow for significant contributions in science, literature, fine arts and public service) and was presented with the Certification of Teacher Excellence by the Kingdom of Morocco Ministry of National Education.

Along with celebrating the academic achievements of students, the university will present various awards, including the University Award for Academic Excellence and the Chancellor’s Award for Academic Excellence. Each college will also present its Dean’s Award for Outstanding Honors Students.

Student Honors Convocation honors the accomplishments of undergraduate students with distinguished academic records. Classes are cancelled from 10 a.m. – noon to allow students, faculty and the university community the opportunity to support these outstanding students.