Telling Black Stories - Local Author Panel

What do you think of when you hear the phrase “Black Stories”? And how do those stories capture the Black experience? Stories are as diverse and varied as the people who create them. This Black History Month, join us for a panel about the diversity of voices and stories within the Black community. We will talk with three Black storytellers as they share their experiences, their stories and their creative journeys.   

Featured Panelists:

Jaki Shelton Green is the ninth Poet Laureate of North Carolina, appointed in 2018. She is the first African American and third woman to be appointed as the North Carolina Poet Laureate. Ms. Greene was reappointed in 2021 for a second term by Governor Roy Cooper. She is a 2019 Academy of American Poet Laureate Fellow, 2014 NC Literary Hall of Fame Inductee, 2009 NC Piedmont Laureate appointment, 2003 recipient of the North Carolina Award for Literature.

Jacques Nyemb is the founder of Not So Super publishing, a small indie press based in  North Carolina. He is an author and comics writer who is passionate about creating stories that are inclusive and imaginative and hopes to inspire others through his writing. 

Anise Vance is a writer from the African and Iranian diasporas. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Rutgers University-Camden. As a Mitchell Scholar, he received an MPhil in Geography from Queen's University Belfast. His debut novel, Hush Harbor, was released in 2023 from Harper Collins.