Camara Gaither fell in love with poetry at the age of 8. Like the words she uses in her art, the memory is precise, vivid, evocative.

“I remember doing a poetry unit with a teacher, and really leaning in,” she said. “It was fascinating to me.”

Her interest in writing at that time is documented in a folder of “terrible poems and cute stories,” Gaither said with a laugh.

Today, her words travel farther and carry more weight: In October, Gaither was named the city’s third poet laureate. While she has been carrying out smaller engagements since then, her first appearance at a major city-sponsored event will be at Orlando’s official Black History Month Community Celebration on Feb. 10.

“I’ve always been a deeply feeling person — a really sensitive kid in observing adults and family dynamics — and caring about fairness and justice,” she said. “All those things coalesced into this work.”

A North Carolina native who grew up in Tampa, Gaither arrived in Orlando seven years ago.

“I had a shallow view of Orlando” — the usual assumptions about a city full of tourists, she said. “I was surprised at the depth I found.”

Settling in the West Lakes area near downtown before a recent move a couple miles north to the Rosemont neighborhood, Gaither was surprised how quickly she fell for the City Beautiful — struck by “how much pride, how much normalcy there is around diversity and celebrating each other,” she said. “I didn’t expect Orlando to become home.”

Orlando poet laureate Camara Gaither mixes her career as a mental-health professional with her artistry as a poet. She’s pictured at the Black History Month Art Exhibition at Orlando City Hall, with portraits of Nina Turner (from left), Angela Davis, Val Demings and Shirley Chisolm by artist Richlin Burnett-Ryan displayed behind her. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

She arrived right before the COVID-19 pandemic with her husband, who works in sports medicine for AdventHealth with the Orlando Magic, and their infant daughter. A University of Tampa graduate, Gaither was completing her master’s degree in social work at the University of Central Florida.

And despite — or maybe because of — a relocation, a first child and school, Gaither also kept writing.

“I wrote more during the pandemic,” she said. “Poetry allows us to have a place to put pain and uncertainty, and there was a lot of that.”

At pandemic’s end, Gaither found a place in the poetry and spoken-word community. She represented Orlando in the Southern Fried Poetry Slam. And she performed at the Diverse Word open-mic night, founded and hosted by Shawn Welcome, her predecessor as the city’s poet laureate.

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“The scene is really, really strong, and I just kind of slid right in,” she said.

It was Welcome who encouraged Gaither to apply for the city position as his term was ending. He had succeded Susan Lilley, the inaugural poet laureate chosen when the program started in 2017.

Gaither’s one-year term can be renewed, allowing her to spend a maximum of four years in the position, which pays $6,000 annually. That figure, essentially negligible in the city’s $1.8 billion annual budget, drew condemnation last fall from Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, who leads Florida’s DOGE effort to root out what it deems unneccessary government spending.

The position reflects Mayor Buddy Dyer’s vision of creating a stronger sense of togetherness and pride in Orlando’s identity, said Marcia Hope Goodwin, who directs the city’s office of community affairs.

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Indeed, in announcing Gaither’s appointment, Dyer said: “Our poet laureate will help continue to add to our city’s unique sense of place.”

The position was the mayor’s idea, Goodwin said, after he learned other cities had poet laureates as a unifying force. United Arts of Central Florida and Burrow Press partner on the selection process, with applicants being vetted by a review panel of experts in fields such as communications, spoken-word performance, education and the literary arts.

Among the required criteria, applicants must demonstrate achievement in the art of poetry through publications and awards, as well as have experience in public speaking or performance.

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Two dozen applicants applied in the last round, with the panelists narrowing the field to three finalists. They each presented an original poem during a meeting with the mayor, who makes the final selection.

“Camara just rose to the top,” Goodwin said. “People in the room were teary eyed” after her performance.

For Gaither, poetry is “a mirror, a map and a microphone.”

As a mirror, she says, the art form asks us, “What are the things we believe? What do we hold dear? How do we see ourselves?” Poetry also serves a guide toward the ideals to which we aspire. As for the microphone, “what’s said gets to be expressed and magnified.”

When she’s not immersed in words, Gaither enjoys physical activity: Pickleball, roller skating, tennis. And in addition to everything else, she has a day job as a mental-health therapist — work that tends to blend with her artistry.

“I love spoken word because it’s really good for us as human beings to hear another person’s story,” she said. “It’s good for our collective mental health.”

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She leads a spoken-word class with military veterans through the VA Medical Center in Lake Nona, which she finds rewarding. “It’s really effective for them,” she says.

Coming up, she will participate in the city’s Women’s History Month event in March, and at the 34th Southern Fried Poetry Slam, which will take place in Orlando in June, with a special tribute to writer Zora Neale Hurston. She’ll also appear at other events hosted by community organizations, as well. To request a performance by Gaither, fill out the form at orlando.gov/poetlaureate.

She’s looking forward to it all, as each experience bonds her more closely with the city and its people.

“I feel even more connected to Orlando; I’ve found more wonderful things we’re doing,” she said. “I’m grateful — really, really, grateful.”

Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Find more entertainment news and reviews at orlandosentinel.com/entertainment or sign up to receive our weekly emailed Entertainment newsletter.

Community Celebration

• What: The city of Orlando’s official Black History Month Community Celebration will feature performances by poet laureate Camara Gaither, singer CeCe Teneal, the City Beautiful Voices choir, the Inez Patricia School of Dance and the Standing Ovation Talent Group’s youth dancers.

• Where: The Plaza Live, 425 N. Bumby Ave. in Orlando

• When: 5-9 p.m. Feb. 10

• Cost: Free

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2026/02/06/orlando-poet-laureate-camara-gaither/