What would you save if you could save something? That was the first question that award-winning poet and author Nikky Finney asked her audience in Kenan Hall during an afternoon Q&A with students and faculty on Thursday, Mar. 27. 

Finney was invited to UNC Wilmington as the keynote speaker for  the Southeastern Women’s Studies Association conference (SEWSA), which celebrates all aspects of women’s studies at every level of involvement. Finney, who is a 2011 National Book Award Winner for her collection of poetry,“Head Off & Split,” spoke with a melodic voice that engaged an audience of mostly students.

When she asked her audience again, “What would you save if you could save something,” she explained that a favorite Polish poet of hers, Czeslaw Milosz, first articulated this question. Finney recalled making an assignment out of this question, posing it to her students at the University of Kentucky.

“[I told them], I’ll give you thirty minutes,” Finney said, adding that her poem “Charm” was later born from the assignment she had worked on alongside her students. 

During her lecture later that evening, Finney spoke of the charm of coming back to the ocean after leaving her hometown of Conway, S.C. over thirty years ago.

“It has taken me a really long time to get back to the ocean,” Finney said. 

After leaving home, Finney attended Talladega College in Alabama. She then lived in Kentucky for 22 years, where she taught as a professor of English. She has lived in Columbia, S.C. since September 2013.

With her long dreads gathered at the back of her neck, Finney’s sharply defined features revealed a deep dimple extending into her lower jawbone as she continued to address the audience. 

“I love words as you will hear, and when I was a little girl I would have word games, where I would find a word I didn’t know and hold it up to the sun and look at it,” Finney said.

Dierdre Parker, a senior and the creative coordinator of all-female spoken word troupe Sisters Inspiring Souls to Attain Higher Success (SISTAHS). Parker dined at a special luncheon with Finney on the Friday following her lecture, and later praised the honesty in Finney’s words. 

“Her openness and generosity amazed me. She was willing to share from her personal experiences. She encouraged [me] to continue to speak and write my truth,” Parker said. 

Zeinab Savage, a senior and current vice-president of SISTAHS, enjoyed talking to Finney on a personal level at the same luncheon that Parker attended with the poet.

“I thought that [Finney] is truly knowledgeable of life. I never wanted her to stop talking,” Savage said. 

Behind her vintage cat eyeglasses, Finney’s deep set light green eyes stayed animated as she spoke about finding oneself. She articulated this through one of her poems. 

“By 15, you have the sense of whether you were loved or cherished, ignored or abandoned. You know how or if you are seen in the world or perhaps you feel completely invisible,” she said. 

Will Dean, a junior, says that as a poet, Finney inspired him to tailor his poetry to a more local level. 

“I’ve always wanted to write to raise awareness, but the problem was I was writing on the wrong arena–an international arena,” Dean said.  

After hearing Finney speak, Dean is now motivated to share his regional experiences as well as his racial ones with local audiences.

Finney’s magnetic quality is what most of those who met her will remember about her time in Wilmington. 

 “A child will become what they are called,” said Finney. “A sensitive child who is privileged to discover the sound of the genuine inside of herself will disobey raucously or primly and do whatever she needs to do in order to never let herself out of her sight.”

Few were ready for Finney to leave after SEWSA. 

“I wanted to order more food just to keep her there and [speak] about all she knew,” Savage said.