SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - Shreveport contemporary artist and poet, Poetic X, has been awarded for his poetry programs that uplift the arts.
On July 31, twenty-three poets laureate were awarded the Academy of American Poets’ fellowship award of $50,000. Among the winners of the award is Shreveport’s artist and poet, Poetic X.
The award is part of The Academy’s Poet Laureate Fellowship program, aiming to fund the poet’s community projects that put poetry at the center. Additionally, the Academy will also provide more than $95,000 to twenty-one nonprofit organizations collaborating with the 2025 fellows on their work.
The fellowships recognize poets laureate for their literary excellence while enabling them to take on impactful and timely projects.
Opens in new window“The Academy of American Poets is jazzed to champion wide-ranging poetry projects produced by poets laureate in big cities and small towns alike—all across the country—spanning poetry festivals, anthologies, nooks, and cookbooks to toll-free poetry hotlines, prison workshops, public beach readings, and billboards,” said Tess O’Dwyer, board chair of the Academy. “At a time when more readers are turning to poetry to make sense of the world around us, American poets are beacons of free expression, cultural insight, and civic engagement.”
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2025 Poet Laureate Fellows:
Kweku Abimbola(El Segundo, CA), Mateo Acuña(Auburn, WA), Tommy Archuleta(Santa Fe, NM), Esther Belin(Durango, CO), Colin Channer(Rhode Island), Jen Cheng (West Hollywood, CA), Steven Espada Dawson(Madison, WI), Mag Gabbert(Dallas, TX), Nancy Miller Gomez(Santa Cruz County, CA), Salaam Green(Birmingham, AL), Lester Graves Lennonand Sehba Sarwar (Altadena, CA), Jennifer Militello(New Hampshire),jessica Care moore(Detroit, MI), Caridad Moro-Gronlier(Miami, FL),Jennifer Polson Peterson(Hattiesburg, MS), Poetic X(Caddo Parish, LA),Jewel Rodgers(Nebraska), Mattie Quesenberry Smith(Virginia), Ruelaine Stokes(Lansing, MI), Bianca Stone(Vermont), Dujie Tahat (Seattle, WA), and Raffi Joe Wartanian(Glendale, CA).
About Poetic X
Poetic X, previously interviewed by ArkLaTex Artistry’s Brittney Hazelton, has recorded four spoken word poetry albums. He is also an author of two collections of self-published at his imprint, Speak-A-Million Publishing.
ArkLaTex Artistry interview with Poetic X:
He has been awarded many honors, including:
- 2025 Shreveport-Bossier-DeSoto African American Award
- A grant from the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development’s Division of the Arts
- Kallenberg Artist Tower residency through the Shreveport Regional Arts Council
Additionally, Poetic X has been involved in public art murals through his ‘Put a Poem On It’ series, including a collaboration with artist Brittney Hazelton.
Other collaborators have included: Whitney Tates, Alex Richardson, Joshua Chambers, and Paige Powell.
For more about Poetic X or to contact him about commissions, visit gopoeticx.com/.
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