BIRMINGHAM, AL – The City of Birmingham is pleased to announce the appointment of Salaam Green as the inaugural 2024-2025 City of Birmingham 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.
Selected through a rigorous nomination and evaluation process, Green emerged as the ideal candidate to serve as Birmingham’s Poet Laureate. As the founder and director of The Literary Healing Arts and a Road Scholar for the Alabama Humanities Alliance, she has spent over 16 years working as an arts educator, healer, and community leader in Birmingham. Green is a published author whose work has been featured in the book Peaches the Perfect Poet, and the Alabama Arts Journal.
Green will begin her two-year term in January 2024. This is an honorary position and roles and responsibilities include making local appearances, facilitating public and educational programs, and building advocacy and community through poetry. The poet laureate will receive an honorarium of $5,000 over the course of their term.
“I am thrilled that Salaam Green will be Birmingham’s inaugural poet laureate. 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,” said Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin. “Supporting and strengthening Birmingham’s arts and culture community has been a commitment of mine since Day One. This is just one of the initiatives that we plan to implement in shining a light on the creatives in our community. I look forward to the poetry, programming and progress that will be born.”
“Birmingham’s literary community deserves to be recognized and celebrated. It was an honor to engage with local poets throughout the application process and we are thrilled to see Ms. Green lead the way as Birmingham’s first-ever poet laureate. We are grateful to the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the City of Birmingham and the Birmingham City Council, for embracing this initiative” says Meghann Bridgeman, President and CEO of Create Birmingham. Birmingham is one of two Alabama cities selected by the Alabama State Council on the Arts to enact an inaugural City Poet Laureate program, the other city being Mobile. This poet laureate initiative is in partnership with the City of Birmingham and is funded by the Alabama State Council on the Arts and The Birmingham City Council’s Cultural Arts Committee.
When asked about being appointed to serve as the City of Birmingham’s inaugural Poet Laureate, Salaam Green had this to say, “It is an honor to accept the inaugural Birmingham Poet Laureate title. This is a duty, a privilege, and as a citizen it is calling to be the people’s poet in a city rich in its foundation of justice and its progression towards unity. As the inaugural Poet Laureate alongside the noble diverse, inclusive, and inter-generational people of the Magic City we shall emerge towards the inseparably entwined journey of belonging through the healing power of words together.”
For more information on the City Poet Laureate initiative, visit createbirmingham.org. Questions can be sent to Community Engagement Manager Viola Ratcliffe at viola@createbirmingham.org.
