Once Upon a Magic City

The City of Birmingham’s Poet Laureate Salaam Green will host a public reading of her new chapbook, “Once Upon a Magic City,” in honor of April’s Poetry Month. The free event will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 18, 2024, at the Birmingham Public Library, located at 2100 Park Place.

“Poetry preserves a people and a place,” Green said. “’Once Upon a Magic City’ was born from the many stories the city holds. I hope as readers engage with the book and that they begin to experience the healing power of words and begin to dream again about the promise of Birmingham.”

Green began her two-year term as Birmingham inaugural poet laureate in January 2024. As the founder and director of The Literary Healing Arts and a Road Scholar for the Alabama Humanities Foundation, she has spent over 16 years working as an arts educator, healer, and community leader in Birmingham. Green is a published author whose work has been featured in the book “Southern Women’s Review”, and the “Alabama Arts Journal.”

Green’s upcoming chapbook will include poems “Freedom Call,” “Birmingham Where the World Belongs,” “Healing is at Hand,” “Little Girls of Birmingham,” and many others. Attendees will receive a complimentary special edition copy, which will include journal prompts.

Local visual artist Micah Briggs was commissioned to design the book’s cover. An unveiling of the cover will take place on that evening. Free posters will be available.