North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University professor James Daniels is the Gate City’s second poet laureate.
The program is run by Creative Greensboro, and the two-year appointment was affirmed by City Council members. Daniels holds degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and North Carolina State University.
Daniels, whose poetry has been widely published, says the goal of his work is to build bridges between creatives, institutions and other artistic mediums. This is something he experiences firsthand in the classroom.
"Students were just like, 'I just needed to have a space to be able to share what I'm thinking,'" says Daniels. "And I think that's the power and function of poetry, is to be able to express these complex emotions that all these other mediums we might not be able to do it through. And I mean, that's, of course, the beauty of art in general. But I think poetry has a very beautiful and specific way of doing that that people really latch on to."
Daniels says this spring he’ll be embarking on what he’s calling a mix of open mic sessions and a listening tour throughout Greensboro. He’ll ask questions and get people to engage about their expectations for poetry in the city.
This summer, Daniels will be completing an original music project, which he plans to release in the fall.