Detroit Today: Michigan’s poet laureate Nandi Comer discusses her work
Comer, a Detroit native, is the State of Michigan’s first poet laureate since the 1950s.
Nandi Comer has been a writer-in-residence in Detroit’s public schools and worked with various organizations, including InsideOut Literary Arts.
Comer currently serves as the director of the Allied Media Projects Speakers Bureau and as co-director of Detroit Lit — a program that provides reading and professional development opportunities to narrative makers of color in Detroit.
Most notably, Comer recently became Michigan’s poet laureate. She is the first person to hold the title since the 1950s.
Comer joined Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson to discuss her career and the goals of the organizations she represents.
Listen: How Detroit’s poets influenced Nandi Comer’s work
Guest
Nandi Comer is Michigan’s poet laureate. Her work can be found in the books she’s authored — “American Family: A Syndrome” and “Tapping Out.”
Comer says she tries to manifest a particular rhythm in her work. In doing so, the revision process for her writing can be quite long.
“Sometimes when I’m revising my work, I revise for a bunch of things — punctuation, clarity. But sometimes I just want to see if it sings,” says Comer.
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