Nandi Comer, Michigan's Newest Poet Laureate
The Library of Michigan is pleased to announce Michigan poet Nandi Comer as the Michigan Poet Laureate.
Raised in Detroit and a graduate of Communications and Media Arts High School in Detroit, Comer received bachelor’s degrees in English and in Spanish with an emphasis on Latin American Culture from the University of Michigan. She has received fellowships from Cave Canem, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Vermont Studio Center, Callaloo, and a translation fellowship by U.S. Poets in Mexico.
Comer’s writing received the Vera Myer Strube Award in poetry. Comer is the winner of Crab Orchard Review’s 2014 Richard Peterson Poetry Prize. In 2016, she completed a master’s degree in African American Literature from the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies and a Master’s of Fine Arts degree in Poetry from the English Department at Indiana University. She is a 2019 Kresge Literary Arts Fellow.
Over the years, Comer has been dedicated to youth development by serving as a writer-in-residence in Detroit Public Schools Community District and community centers. She has also worked in collaboration with organizations, including YArts and InsideOut Literary Arts Projects. Ms. Comer served as a curriculum developer and youth curriculum consultant for various arts organizations and in 2018 received the William Wiggins Award for Outstanding Teaching at Indiana University.
Comer’s poems and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in Callaloo, Crab Orchard Review, The Journal of Pan African Studies, Sycamore Review, and Third Coast. She is the author of American Family: Syndrome (Finishing Line Press) and Tapping Out (Northwestern University Press), which was awarded the 2020 Society of Midland Authors Award and the 2020 Julie Suk Award.
Comer is currently the director of Allied Media Projects Seeds Program and the co-director of Detroit Lit, a program dedicated to providing reading and professional development opportunities to narrative makers of color in Detroit.
Learn more about Nandi Comer and the Michigan Poet Laureate program by visiting Michigan.gov/PoetLaureate. View the full Michigan Poet Laureate announcement press release on the Michigan Department of Education website. A schedule of school and library visits will soon be posted on the Michigan Poet Laureate site.
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 "Tapping Out" and "American Family: A Syndrome" by Nandi Comer
History of Michigan Poet Laureate Position
Prior to Comer’s selection, Michigan had only appointed one other state poet laureate. Edgar A. Guest (1881-1959) was named Poet Laureate through Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 38 (1952) of the Michigan Legislature.
Guest held the title of Poet Laureate of the state of Michigan from 1952 until his death in 1959. Will Carleton (1847-1912) is sometimes referred to as the first Poet Laureate of Michigan. Public Act 51 of 1919 designated October 21 of each year as "Carleton Day" in memory of "Michigan's pioneer poet." However, "Carleton Day" was a commemorative school holiday in honor of Carleton as opposed to an appointed poet laureate title. "Carleton Day" was removed as a school holiday in 1995 as directed by Public Act 289 during a revision of the state of Michigan's school code.
 Edgar A. Guest and Will Carleton
2023 Night for Notables
The Library of Michigan and Library of Michigan Foundation recently celebrated the Michigan Notable Books Night for Notables Reception is on Saturday evening, April 22, 2023. The event included remarks by both Library of Michigan Foundation Board Chair Brian A. Hare and State Librarian Randy Riley, as well as a keynote presentation by 2-time Michigan Notable Books author Karen Dionne. The 2023 Michigan Notable Books authors were honored during the program and event attendees meet with them during the Afterglow Reception/Book Signing in the Library of Michigan's atrium.
Thank you to everyone who attended as well as the sponsors who supported the program. See more photos of the entire 2023 Night for Notables program on the Library of Michigan's Facebook page. Learn more about the Michigan Notable Books program by going to Michigan.gov/NotableBooks.
 2023 Night for Notables Reception
2023 Michigan Notable Books Author Tour
The 2023 Michigan Notable Books Author Tour is taking place between April through June with MNB authors visiting 50 libraries across the state. Find the full tour listing on the Michigan Notable Books site. Upcoming tour stops this week include:
Tuesday May 9, 2023 at 6:00PM
Three Rivers Public Library
88 N Main St, Three Rivers, MI 49093
Author: Sharon Emery - "It’s Hard Being You: A Primer on Being Happy Anyway"
Wednesday May 10, 2023 at 6:00PM
Dowagiac District Library
211 Commercial St, Dowagiac, MI 49047
Author: Sharon Emery - "It’s Hard Being You: A Primer on Being Happy Anyway"
Thursday May 11 2023 at 6:00PM
Saint Clair Shores Library
22500 E Eleven Mile Rd, St Clair Shores, MI 48081
Authors: Ghassan Zeineddine and Sally Howell - "Hadha Baladuna: Arab American Narratives of Boundary and Belonging"
Find more information about the Michigan Notable Books program at: Michigan.gov/NotableBooks.
 MNB Authors Dan Charnas, Kai Harris, and Barbara Henning.
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