Halfway through his two-year term, Williamsburg’s inaugural poet laureate is still in awe about being at the forefront of building a spoken word scene in his hometown.
“It’s been humbling,” said Lacroy Nixon, who goes by the moniker Atlas, during a recent walk through sunny downtown Williamsburg.
“Even if I’m not the one to see the end result of this, even if I’m not even a poet by the time this end result happens — whatever that could look like — it’s bigger than one person.”
The Williamsburg Public Art Council named Nixon poet laureate in 2025, a program he suggested the city start after graduating from Liberty University.
Nixon has been sharing his poetry at city events and shepherding new young voices into the art. He spent the last four weeks organizing the Poetry Slam Summer in Hampton through Slam Connection, a nonprofit that hosts open mics, youth programs and competitions. It caps with a showcase at the American Theatre on Saturday.
Nixon also accomplished one of his major goals: starting an interschool slam poetry league. The Artist Garden program introduces high school students at Lafayette, Warhill and Woodside to spoken word, writing and performing. Beginning this school year, students get a chance to perform solo or in a team while also learning about social media content creation and marketing.
The program leads to a grand slam competition in February, where students will do everything from performing and photographing to managing the event. Nixon said, in a media landscape that’s increasingly filled with AI-generated content, it’s important to give young people a chance to be creative.
“If you give them something real, they’ll bite,” Nixon said. “I’ve got so much respect for the latter half of Gen Z, Gen Alpha; we either put up or shut up with them.”
The program’s been nominated for the Virginia Municipal League’s Innovations Awards. Winners will be announced in October at a conference in Norfolk.
Vice Mayor Pat Dent is part of the council that selected Nixon. He sees himself as an example of Nixon’s work. Dent, a retired fire chief, had never been tapped into art and poetry; that’s begun to change since he met Nixon.
“It gives another way for Williamsburg to tell its story,” Dent said. “I think that’s had a huge impact on the community, connecting through our youth.”
Nixon, however, hasn’t done it alone. He praises the support he got from his Slam Connection partners, Breeanna Dobson and Laraya Billups, former partner Daniel Garwood, William & Mary’s Inside Out Theatre and the public arts council.
The job of Williamsburg laureate “requires the most versatility out of most poet laureate positions in most cities,” Nixon said. “You’ve got to be the bricks and the mortar.”
Replacing Nixon will be a hard task; Dent said he’s done everything he’s been asked and more.
“He’s investing more time in it than we ever anticipated he would,” he said. “I just want to make sure that we’re giving him the resources he needs, the support he needs, so that the program can continue and continue to grow.”
Through next July, Nixon hopes to solidify creating a new culture in a city so well-known for its heritage.
“But as a believer in the gospel, I think about the scripture where Jesus was like ‘and greater things than this you will do,’” Nixon said.
“That’s the mindset I’ve adopted with every person that comes into Artist Garden, Slam Connection, Poetry Slam Summer — you’re going to do greater things than this; you’re going to be the next, because one day I’m not going to be the one to do it.”
