North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green signs books of poetry before she gives a reading at Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Photo by Corinne Saunders)
By Corinne Saunders
NAGS HEAD — Many eyes were closed, and the room of about 80 people was reverently quiet as attendees soaked in the poetry of North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green, who read excerpts of her work at Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head on Thursday night.
Shelton Green, the state’s first African American poet laureate and the third woman appointed to the position, seamlessly transitioned from providing context surrounding her work to reading her poetry about her family, nature, history and more.