Tim Seibles’ love affair with writing began at an early age.

As he grew up in Philadelphia, his mother, Barbara Seibles, didn’t believe he was wildly talented, but encouraged him to write because it would be a good talent to have. She thought the more he wrote, the better his writing would become, he recalls.

One the other hand, his dad, Thomas Seibles, was a practical man. In his father’s world, an educated black person should try to pursue a profession — law, medicine or architecture.

His father would always talk to him about being his own boss, he recalls.

“No one could tell you what to do,” he says his father told him. “He would say, ‘Son, you would have your own time, your own schedule, your own thoughts and ways of doing things.’ ”

As his interests became more literary, his parents didn’t stand in his way, although they questioned the practicality. “To their credit, if they thought I had a passion, they would not try to stop me,” he says. “My mother said, ‘You have to have some way to make a living. If you only write poems, you are not going to be a millionaire.’ ”

Today, Mr. Seibles, an English professor at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, is Virginia’s poet laureate. He was appointed to the two-year post by former Gov. Terry McAuliffe and will serve in that role until June.

He follows in the esteemed path of past state poet laureates such as Rita Dove, Joseph Awad and Kelly Cherry.

In addition to teaching graduate courses at ODU, Mr. Seibles visits other colleges and schools around the state reading his work and sharing his love of writing and poetry. He encourages young people to express themselves and hone their craft.

Writers, he says, serve a function in society because they can say things that many people are afraid to say.

“Unfortunately, politicians — those who are invested in protecting their chance to be re-elected — often don’t say what they know. They often don’t tell the truth in a risky way,” he says.

But as a poet, “you can say what you see,” he continues. “If you are a sensitive and thoughtful person, hopefully some of what you write will carry news that many people feel. Your words become the voice for many people who may not have the ability to write or the opportunity to write or speak. So I thinks that poets can service society by giving a voice to people that may not have a voice.”

While poems may not affect legislation, he says, they can crystallize ideas and attitudes “and that keeps the ideas in the light.”

Mr. Seibles has several collections of poetry. “Fast Animal,” published in 2012, won the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize and was nominated for the National Book Award. In 2013, he received the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award for poetry.

His work also has been featured in numerous anthologies.

Being Virginia’s poet laureate has “made me more visible” and broadened his audience, Mr. Seibles says. “I have more opportunities to read at more Virginia colleges and high schools.

“If there are a few more book sales, that’s lovely,” he continues. “Most poets are not going to get rich from book sales. You can do OK, but it’s nothing like a best-selling novel.”

His influences stem from enjoying the work of his peers, both those living and dead. He talks particularly about Ai, a woman poet who is African-American and Japanese, who wrote in other people’s voices, and Pablo Neruda, a Chilean poet and politician, whose poems range from playful to sharply political.

It’s also important to him to reach people in the African diaspora.

“Most black writers would like to have more engagement” with historically black colleges and universities, Mr. Seibles says. “Surprisingly, many black writers have not been invited to HBCUs, which is completely baffling. At HBCUs, African-American poets are among family, talking about something that the family would understand fully.”

He acknowledges that some people are intimidated by poetry. But, he says, “go to poetry assuming that you will understand it. I think poetry can be enjoyed by everyone.”

Meet Virginia’s poet laureate and this week’s Personality, Tim Seibles:

Top honors: Poet laureate of Virginia and finalist for the 2012 National Book Award.

Date and place of birth: Philadelphia in 1955.

Current residence: Norfolk.

Occupation: Professor of English, Old Dominion University.

Community involvement: I visit many high schools. I also teach community writing workshops.

Alma maters: bachelor of arts in English, Southern Methodist University; and master’s in writing, Vermont College of Fine Arts; and honorary doctorate from Misericordia University.

Family: Parents, Thomas Seibles III and Barbara Seibles; brother, Thomas Seibles IV.

Why I became a teacher: The people who had the greatest impact on my life were teachers, and I wanted to have such an impact on people.

Teaching philosophy: In a nutshell, I try to address subjects in both intellectual and emotional terms. I try to address whatever the subject is in such a way as to invite students to care about the subject. Caring is an emotional thing, so to do this, you must show a student how a particular issue connects to his/her life.

First poem and why: I cannot remember when or why or what.

Main inspiration: Life is the fundamental inspiration for me. So much happens to each person during his/her life. I try to write about the things that strike me as important, things that make us larger in some way or simply more awake. I am compelled by many subjects — memory, sexuality, race, the realm of the Sacred, family, love, the process of becoming a self and consciousness itself. When someone reads a poem I have written, I hope they feel more in touch with their emotions and more willing to explore questions and/or subjects that they’ve neglected or had never imagined as significant. Poetry is a vehicle for discovering one’s own life and its connection to other lives and things beyond.

What I want my students to get: I hope students in my classes develop a love for language and poetry, which will make them more attentive to themselves and the life around them.

How I start the day: I usually start the day by reading and then writing, working on some of my own poetry or, perhaps, an essay.

A perfect day is: A perfect day for me would involve time to write, time to think and time to exercise intensely — and, of course, time for love.

Something I love to do that most people would never imagine: Something people might not imagine me doing is playing the guitar, which I practice often.

Top on my “to do” list is: My “to do” is to perform with a band in a public place.

How friends describe me: My friends probably think of me as somewhat crazy but fun — and I hope kind.

A quote that I’m inspired by: I often think of the line, “What’s madness but nobility of soul at odds with circumstance?” It’s from Theodore Roethke’s poem, “In A Dark Time.”

Favorite late-night snack: Late at night, it’s nice to have a little ice cream — on occasion.

Best thing my parents ever taught me: My parents taught me to believe in myself and persist in every worthwhile endeavor — a crucial creed to live by. 

Person who influenced me the most: The two most influential people in my life are Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Jimi Hendrix. Both were tender loving spirits who risked a lot to enact their belief in the human heart.

Book that influenced me the most: “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez still awes me.

What I’m reading now: “Toussaint Louverture: A Biography” by Madison Smartt Bell.

Next goal: To put out audio recordings of my poetry.