Literacy, writing and spoken word are being promoted in Birmingham through a new initiative. The 2024 Summer Poet Fellowship is running through the summer months in the Magic City. It’s being made possible through a partnership with Birmingham’s Poet Laureate, Birmingham Public Libraries and the economic development nonprofit Create Birmingham.
Salaam Green is Birmingham’s current Poet Laureate and created the new initiative. She said the fellowship is meant to be used as a program to pay locals who are already doing poetry work and community building.
“It's an idea that I came up with and worked in partnership with create Birmingham to think of an innovative process to make sure that intergenerational learning continues in the summer, and that literacy development spans the pipeline of all ages, including youth, all the way to our senior populations, where creativity never stops,” she explained.
The two fellows selected work with the Birmingham Public Library system to facilitate poetry programming and each received a $500 honorarium.
Adult Poet Fellow Maati Sanovia Haleemah Muhammad is an Experienced-Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT), retired registered nurse, published author of “A Journey to Forgiveness, Disowning 3 Generations of Violence,” along with being a community activist and poet. Green said she is working to bring poetry, yoga, mindfulness and meditation to the Magic City’s senior community.
“[She’s a] well-renowned creative, well-renowned spirit in the community who works with women and who has a high value of working with aging populations, particularly grandmothers, who are raising grandchildren,” Green said. “I knew that she would be a perfect fit, not only because she's an author and is a beautiful poet and a beautiful spirit, but she utilizes movement and poetry to support aging populations and thriving.”
The second appointee to the fellowship is Youth Poet Fellow, Karima Moor. She’s a Birmingham native who’s always loved writing but didn’t start writing poetry until the age of 18. In 2021, Karima recited her self-authored poem, “Unity,” at the 30th Inauguration of Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin.
Moor recently wrapped up her work with the Birmingham Public Library’s [Summer] STEAMER Camp and STEAMER campers. The program provides elementary students with interdisciplinary STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) curriculum, in an effort to reverse summer learning loss.
“Moor has used creative writing and poetry to support those particular age groups. We thought she would be a great fit because she has a background in community work, but also a background in using spoken word to support the age group that we wanted for the summer program,” Green explained. “She understands how to use spoken word as a tool for literacy development, and as a young poet in the next generation of poets, I thought it would be a beautiful gift to bring her into the space where young people are, so that they can have access to poetry and access to someone who looks like them,” she continued.
While the program is only scheduled for summer 2024, Green said she hopes to continue the initiate next summer with more fellows being appointed. Read more about the fellowship here.
