Author: James Gregory Paul Sr.
Alternate names: James G. Paul, Sr.
Bio: 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.