Junious 'Jay' Ward
Website: jwardpoetry.com
Instagram: jward2030,
Facebook: Jay Ward
Twitter: jayward2030
Email: jwardpoetry@gmail.com
About:
Junious 'Jay' Ward is a poet and teaching artist from Charlotte, NC. He is a National Slam champion (2018), an Individual World Poetry Slam champion (2019), author of Sing Me A Lesser Wound (Bull City Press, 2020) and Composition (forthcoming from Button Poetry, 2022), and Charlotte's inaugural Poet Laureate.
Jay currently serves as a Program Director for BreatheInk, where he facilitates writing and performance workshops and coaches youth poets attending Brave New Voices each year. He serves as vice-chair for the board of The Watering Hole, a non-profit organization that aims to nurture writers of color in the Southern tradition.
He also serves on several curatorial committees related to the arts in Charlotte (BOOM, Of Earth and Sky, etc). Through his work, Ward tackles such topics as race, gentrification, justice, education, resilience, and joy. He has attended Breadloaf Writer's Conference, Callaloo, The Watering Hole and Tin House Winter Workshop.
His work can be found in Crabfat Magazine, Lackadaisy Lit Mag, Four Way Review, Diode Poetry Journal, and on Button Poetry, All Def Poetry, and Slamfind.
News Coverage:
Charlotte’s first poet laureate creates ‘music in language’ through his love of poetry - Charlotte Observer
WHAT ARE THOSE WORDS ALL OVER UPTOWN? LOCAL POETS PUT THEIR MARK ON THE QUEEN CITY THROUGH OF EARTH AND SKY - LAST WEEK TO EXPLORE THESE INCREDIBLE INSTALLATIONS - Blumenthal Performing Arts
Charlotte's new poet laureate hopes to work in schools, libraries and with city's youth - WFAE Charlotte
A POET FOR UNCERTAIN TIMES – JAY WARD - Charlotte is Creative
Jay Ward: Spoken Word - BOOM Charlotte
