Artist Spotlight: PG Williams

Shortly after graduating university, PG “Papi Grande” Williams changed careers from sales to slam poetry, becoming known and loved through the Bay Area poetry scene. Through this change, he was able to continue performing at slam poetry nights, attend poetry festivals throughout the US, become a teaching artist with Bay Area Creative, and even publish his own poetry book. 

“Life is what you make it.”

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PG’s first poetry performance was not as an adult but in the seventh grade, reading out a love poem he had written to his class. It’s a feeling he never forgot, how everyone reacted to his poem, moved by his writing. From there, he started and continued to write poetry just for himself but soon realized he wanted to share his art with others as a career. His dedication became clear in how he spent every day of the week performing at any open mic he could find in the Bay Area. Through this passion and tenacity, PG began to cement his career and presence in the local poetry community. With more performance rose more opportunity; he met mentors, peers, and friends alike all further integrating him into the community. One of the most memorable moments being his team performance at the 2023 Bigfoot Poetry Festival where he took home 3rd place within his first year in poetry. Particularly, PG’s weekly performances at the Berkeley Slam led him to becoming a teaching artist at Bay Area Creative, where he furthered both his career in poetry and education.

“[Kids] teach you so much with just them being themselves”

As a teaching artist, PG emphasizes how it’s not just him teaching his students but how they teach him new things everyday. Of what he’s learned and implemented into his teaching, he’s understood the most important part of teaching is showing up as yourself. By being authentic in the classroom, he’s teaching his students to be authentic in their writing and everyday lives. In being themselves, PG’s students can be more reflective of their true selves and grow. It’s not just being authentic that PG teaches through poetry but other important skills. Through performing their poetry in front of the class, he teaches them how to be comfortable with public speaking in crowds. PG wants his students to get a headstart in their lives, to learn skills that’ll be important for everyday life. He truly believes that as long as his students work at their passions, then naturally opportunities will arrive for them. The way PG teaches poetry extends to skills and lessons outside of the classroom, he endeavors to change their lives for the better. 

In his own poetry, PG does not limit himself to specific messages or meanings. He says that each poem of his has a different intention, tone, and inspiration. To list a fraction of the topics in his poetry, he’s written the importance of treating others with kindness, being intentional with our words, and how every single one of our lives matter. For spoken word poetry PG states how having an important matter to address is “one of the beginning pillars of an excellent slam piece for me”. It’s described as a prerequisite, that his slam poetry must have an issue or topic that he feels particularly “needs to be addressed or changed”. In contrast, poetry he does not intend to perform can be any thought or emotions that he felt the need to write. Whether he is writing slam poetry or poetry just on the page, PG is writing with intent and authenticity. 

“Your energy is important and you matter in life.”

In the seventh grade, PG wrote his first poetry book for English class– a small chapbook filled with roughly 8 poems that he still has to this day. Now, he’s published his first poetry book Theme Of Identity– Off The Stage in 2025 where he delves into his own mind and makes art of it. PG’s poetry has moved his classmates in the past, the thousands in his audience, and the students he teaches. Whether he was sharing it or not, poetry has always been an integral part of who PG is and will continue to be so.