In the latest episode of “Detroit girls do it better,” in walks Nandi Comer.
Comer, an award-winning writer, was announced as the Michigan poet laureate on Wednesday. Didn’t know Michigan had a poet laureate? Neither did we, and that’s probably because the state hasn’t filled the position since the 1950s.
In her new role, Comer will promote poetry and literary arts at schools and libraries across the state in collaboration with the Michigan Department of Education and the Library of Michigan.
Until now, Michigan was one of only four states without a poet laureate.
Comer tells Metro Times by phone that she’s most excited about working to inspire the next generation of young writers.
“I came into poetry as a youth and to have someone come into a classroom, or teachers that were interested in valuing my voice is really what set me on this trajectory,” she says. “Since I was 19, I’ve been teaching kids to write and teaching kids to express themselves, tapping into their own authentic voices. There’s so much enrichment that I get from interacting with youth.”
The 43-year-old poet is no stranger to community building. She’s worked in Detroit Public Schools as the Writer in Residence at InsideOut Literary Arts, has facilitated programming with YArts and Room Project, has done youth curriculum consulting for several arts organizations, and received the 2018 Williams Wiggins Award for Outstanding Teaching at Indiana University.
Her dedication to uplifting young writers is part of what landed her the poet laureate role.
“A big part of the poet laureate program is the outreach component, so we were looking for someone who was skilled at programming and reaching out to libraries and places where they could not only talk about their work, but the impact poetry can have on reading and literacy,” State Librarian Randy Riley tells Metro Times. “Nandi is already doing that, especially when we look at the work she’s done in the Detroit area.”
Comer’s writing has appeared (or is forthcoming) in Callaloo, Crab Orchard Review, The Journal of Pan African Studies, Sycamore Review, and Third Coast, among others. She’s authored two poetry collections — American Family: A Syndrome and Tapping Out, which won the 2020 Society of Midland Authors Award and the 2020 Julie Suk Award. She’s also a Kresge Literary Arts Fellow, Cave Canem Fellow, Callaloo Fellow, and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Fellow.
Comer has also served as guest editor of the Metro Times 2022 Fiction Issue and the forthcoming 2023 edition set for publication next month.
Comer says she’s always been a writer but her love for poetry was stoked at Communication and Media Arts High School in a class with InsideOut founder Terry Blackhawk.
“Prior to actually launching InsideOut she had already set the framework by inviting professional writers into her classroom,” Comer remembers. “She pulled me aside after my first semester in an English class with her and asked if I wanted to be in her creative writing class. That’s when I started learning what it meant to write poems and publish them. I published for the first time with her on the editorial staff of our first literary magazine.”
Michigan’s first poet laureate (and up until now, only) was Edgar A. Guest, who held the title from 1952 until his death in 1959, according to the Michigan Department of Education.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer first approved a state budget that allocated funds for the role in 2021. Riley confirmed to Metro Times that a total of $200,000 ($100,000 for each year) had been earmarked for the poet laureate position and a public program surrounding the role. Prior to Wednesday’s announcement, the Detroit Free Press launched a months-long investigation into how tax dollars for the program were being spent since the position had yet to be filled.
“Even though we didn’t have the poet laureate in place, we were doing things to establish this program for when Nandi came on board and was officially announced,” Riley tells us. “We’ve bought online poetry that will be accessible, all kinds of books by Michigan poets that we will make available and hand out for free at these poetry events. We’ve done some sponsorships promoting reading poetry working with Poetry Out Loud also.”
He says they are still working out how much Comer will be paid for the role.
“I honestly don’t know why it took this long to name a new poet laureate,” he says. “I know we at the Library of Michigan have brought this up periodically, and I’ve been at the Library of Michigan for 33 years... I think maybe it’s because poetry and what is good poetry are so subjective that getting agreement on any poet as being the person we’re gonna focus on can be challenging.”
Comer will serve a two-year term as Michigan’s poet laureate and hopes the state doesn’t go another long spell without filling the position when her time is done.
For now, you can catch her reading on Saturday, April 15 for MARS Marshall’s FLOWER BOI book release party at Detroit’s Room Project. Brittany Rogers, Tommye Blount, and La Shaun phoenix Moore will also read alongside Marshall with music from Sophiya E.
She’ll also be at Missouri’s Unbound Book Festival on April 20-23, and the Multilingual Midwest literary event in Hamtramck on April 30.
For more information, see nandicomer.com.
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