James Gregory Paul Sr.
1 book
Biography
I fell in love with words when my mom gave me a little white book called "The Student's Companion". I was eight years old. This love affair inspired me to take classes in English Literature in High School where I was introduced to the classical works of literary greats like Shakespeare, Chaucer, Edgar Allan Poe and William Wordsworth. But it wasn't until I read the irreverent, free-flowing verses of Beat Poets like Kerouac, Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti and Amiri Baraka, that I was really hooked. The bold revolutionary style and cadence of these iconoclasts resonated with me. I subsequently experimented with and developed my own unique style of free verse poetry, borrowing from both genres - the conventional classics and the unconventional upstarts.
As an artist with African, Caribbean and urban American roots, my poetry, essays and narratives capture the harsh socio-cultural realities of the oppressed and underserved. I hope to utilize my modest gifts as a poet and author to challenge the status quo, provoke dialogue, and inspire positive social change.
As an artist with African, Caribbean and urban American roots, my poetry, essays and narratives capture the harsh socio-cultural realities of the oppressed and underserved. I hope to utilize my modest gifts as a poet and author to challenge the status quo, provoke dialogue, and inspire positive social change.
