Nicholas Carter is a senior at Tunstall High School. He is also an aspiring poet. Carter has written over two hundred poems. He has a Twitter account under “Nick the Poet,” an Instagram under “N.C. Poems” and a Facebook, with several hundred followers, all showcasing that work.

He was inspired to write poetry by seeing a friend’s  work in a book and decided to try it. Carter has also been diagnosed with autism, at age three. Carter struggles with a variety of things: such as social skills, over analyzation, and anxiety/depression.  “I get angry and I write poems degrading myself sometimes, but it positively gives me creative ideas,” Carter explains.

Carter states, “I’m a very sensitive writer. I deal with it by mainly just letting it flow through. I don’t modify poems often.”

If he had to pick a favorite poem it would be hard, but it would probably be one called “You Can Write.” It is described as a positive parody to Charles Bukowski’s poem “So you want to be a writer.” Also, Carter thoroughly likes Emily Dickinson and Shel Silverstein, but says there are too many poets in the world to have a favorite.

For writing in the future Carter said, “I’ll continue poetry when I get free time from college work.” He plans on attending Danville Community College.

Carter says that his friends and family really like his work and that their support and feedback encourages him to continue.

He is currently in creative  writing. His teacher, Mrs. Blanknship, said “The subject matter of his poems are often related to his autism, which usually end up being his best pieces because they allow for other students to understand a different perspective of life.”