gratitude blog (since you asked . . .)

doris davenport is an Educator / Writer / Performance Poet. She has done numerous poetry performances and workshops (most recently at the Visiting Writers Series of Gaston College and Asheville’s WordFest).
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Other writers: Zora Neale Hurston, Nikki Giovanni, Octavia Butler, Toni Morrison, Lee Smith, and many others but Hurston, over and over and always, because of her literary locale, the way she worked oral culture, her joy in being who and what she is and we are.
Musical influences: Nina Simone, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Harris (sax player), James Brown, Kitty Lester, Nancy Wilson, "ALIVE" and . . .
Additionally, one of my earliest and most primary influences was the beautifully poetic, mystical environment of my home in the Appalachian foothills, including my family and community. The other earliest literary influences, before i was twelve, were ghost stories, science fiction and fantasy ("Alice in Wonderland" when i was 6 years old). After that, an addictive reader, i have been influenced by almost everything that i have ever read.