James Samuel Havelin is American poet, editor and educator. Havelin founded the poetry series Poetry Central

Poetry Central

Poetry Central was a loose collection of performance poets and audiences in the area of Rochester N.Y. Performances and readings were presented publicly under its sponsorship, originally at the...

 in Rochester the early 1970s. He also edited the Poetry Central Newsletter, which provided information on literary events in the upstate New York region. Poetry Central also collaborated on several literary events in conjunction with other area organizations, such as the English and Continuing Education departments of the University of Rochester

University of Rochester

The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...

, the Writer's Forum

Brockport Writers Forum

A series readings and interviews founded in 1967 at the State University of New York College at Brockport by Gregory FitzGerald, then as Associate Professor in the English Department. FitzGerald, a poet and fiction writer himself, was the first faculty member to teach a creative writing...

 at SUNY Brockport, and Rochester Poets

Rochester Poets

Founded in 1922 as the Rochester, NY chapter of the Poetry Society of America, Rochester Poets is the area's oldest, ongoing literary organization...

, of which he was member.

After several years working as a manager at Scrantom's, a Rochester, NY area stationery-bookstore chain in the 1970s, he briefly moved to Boston.