Speaker Spotlight - Jaki Shelton Green

Photo by Sylvia Freeman

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your practice.
I have been writing poetry since I was very young. My practice is to show up everyday in my life in the everydayness and ordinary places where my creative intentions live and is thrive., ie. cooking, cleaning, laundry, weeding, planting, loving, mothering, daughtering, etc. I organically create natural patterns and schedules that weave in and out of all my other practices of BEING the practice. 

What did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be an oceanographer even though I’d never been to the ocean. I was obsessed with Jacques Cousteau and his explorations of the world(s) underwater.

Can you remember when you first learned about your field of work? How did you discover what it was, and how did you know it was what you wanted to do?
I started writing poetry and stories about my rural southern culture as a child. It was my maternal grandmother who guiding me into a realm of magical creativity through her connectedness to the natural world. She loved poetry and taught me how to listen to the poetry inside hailstorms, the rustle of a snake on dry leaves, the changing color of indigo, or the simmering of boiling water.
When I started writing at six years old, my mother gave me a diary every year for Christmas through my early 20’s. Those diaries whispered back to me and I knew I could never stop the flow of “telling” or “writing.”

What is the best part and hardest part of your job?
I celebrate building community across all the imagined and real boundaries through my poetry. Currently, my challenge is balancing BEING the writer and SERVING the role of NC Poet Laureate.

What on-the-job tools do you use every day?
Computer, razor felt pens, legal pads, journals

What about your community inspires you?
The history that “I know I know” and continually discovering more about the landscape of genetic deja-vu.

What is the best piece of business advice you’ve been given?
“Tell them what you’re worth. Do not bankrupt your spirit.”

Can you name a moment of failure in your business experience that you learned from or that helped you improve your business or the way you work?
I’ve encountered challenges, disappointments but nothing that I characterize as failure. I’ve miscalculated people because I have blindly trusted.

What books/resources would you recommend to someone interested in furthering their creative practice, or starting a creative business of their own?
Talk to those who have walked before you. Research. Be clear about your mission and how to curate your projects.

If you were magically given three more hours per day, what would you do with them?
WRITE. READ.

Who are your favorite creators and makers, local and beyond?
Rumi, James Baldwin, Mary Ellen Lough ( Medicine Bundles/Asheville), Abdullateef Fisher, William Moore (Sculptor) Bryant Holsenbeck (Environmental Artist)

Anything else you’d like to share?
Much gratitude for allowing me to show up in this space.