Midwest Regional Youth Poet Laureate and Ann Arbor native, Faye Harrison, is in the running for the National Youth Poet Laureate award.

U-M kicks off National Poetry Month with interactive Poetry Blast event.

In order to celebrate the voices of young local students during Black History Month, Local 4 is working with InsideOut Literary Arts, an organization that helps Detroit’s youth build their literary and academic skills through creative writing. Below you can read some of the poems written by these local students of various ages in honor of Black History. The African QuiltBy Artis (InsideOut Middle School Student)The Quilt of Africa’s made for my brothers and sisters. Since 1995, InsideOut Literary Arts has helped over 65,000 of Detroit’s youth build their literary and academic skills through creative writing. As Detroit’s largest and oldest literary non-profit, InsideOut now serves more than 100 classrooms and community sites annually.

DETROIT – Detroit is mourning the loss of award-winning poet Naomi Long Madgett. “She was indeed the godmother of African-American poetry.”This is from the Poetry Foundation:Born in Norfolk, Virginia, poet and publisher Naomi Cornelia Long Madgett grew up in East Orange, New Jersey. She earned a BA at Virginia State University (then Virginia State College), an M.Ed. Mentored by poet Langston Hughes, Madgett moved to Detroit in 1946. In her poetry, influenced by the work of Emily Dickinson, John Keats, and Langston Hughes, Madgett often engages themes of civil rights and African American spirituality.