Poetry is stepping out of quiet corners and into classrooms, community centers and public life.
Dallas’ newly named poet laureates, 33-year-old Black Ceasar and youth poet Cadence Diggs, said their mission is to simply make poetry accessible, visible and deeply rooted in the communities they serve.
“I feel that this is just that next step in my career,” Black Ceasar said. “And ultimately I hope that we can make poetry a public good, something that’s accessible and something that people want to be a part of.”
The role of poet laureate extends far beyond writing. Dallas is one of the few cities with both a youth and adult poet laureate serving at the same time. Black Ceasar and Cadence will collaborate on workshops, readings and community events aimed at sparking creativity across ages.
“She is my peer,” Black Ceasar said. “I can’t teach all the poetry in the city... I think it's imperative to be able to have something that is ageless and raceless, and everybody can be a part of.”
For 17-year-old Cadence, the work begins with young people. She's a junior at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and she aims to build literacy and creative confidence in her fellow students.
“I can make sure to implement in other kids that their voices are important that they should go towards creative writing because it's an important form of expression,” she said.
Both poets describe their work as rooted in personal experience and the urgency of expression. Black Ceasar said he grew his passion for poetry during the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, writing through anger, identity and reflection. In one poem, Black Ceasar channels the spirit of Muhammad Ali, invoking resilience and resistance.
“It just let me know that my stories are important,” he said. “Our stories have to be our foundation, and they have to be that driving force...being able to allow yourself, to liberate yourself through poetry, that's what that journey showed me.”
Cadence brings a different perspective shaped by youth and the feeling that young voices are often overlooked. That belief drives her work in schools, where she says many students are still searching for validation. Cadence challenges the erasure of history and the consequences of limiting what students can learn.
“I believe young writers need validation — not just from the outside community, but also within themselves.”
Together, their voices reflect different generations, but a shared purpose to ensure people feel seen and heard.
Ask either poet to describe Dallas, and the answer sounds less like geography and more like possibility. That sense of creativity is part of what they hope to amplify, especially in communities that have historically been overlooked.
Both poets are already thinking about their legacy. Cadence hopes to launch literacy workshops for younger students to cultivate spaces where creative writing becomes a tool for self-expression early on.
“This is a passion project that can really… bring more young writers, young thinkers into the world,” she said.
Black Ceasar is developing a citywide poetry project called Two Dollars from Dallas, inviting residents to submit their poems for a collective publication with Deep Vellum.
“Everybody has a little piece of them in Dallas,” he said. “And now everybody’s able to… read this.”
