THE DETROIT NEW AUG 2025
Poetic murals, haiku recordings among laureate's plans for Detroit
The Detroit News
Detroit's poet laureate said she wants to "wrap Detroit with love," and a recently awarded grant from the Academy of American Poets will help her do just that.
jessica Care moore, who likes to stylize her first and last name with lower case letters, is one of 23 poets laureate across the United States to receive a $50,000 share of a $1.1 million fellowship through the academy's annual fellowship program, which funds community projects that make poetry more visible and accessible.
The internationally known artist, who was named the city's poet laureate last year, said her plans for the fellowship are three-fold, involving: a series of intergenerational workshops, an "audio poetry chapbook" as well as a series of murals.
"This fellowship is really, really competitive and I'm super honored to be one of the poets selected this year," moore said. "This is a way we can show how incredible Detroit is and have some bragging rights for the D."
moore is working with the Love Building, a nonprofit hub for several Detroit-based social justice organizations, to make the projects a reality.
Planning for each of the aspects is still underway, moore said, but the overarching idea is to inspire young people to appreciate and pursue poetry while also instilling a sense of community pride, "for a city that sometimes doesn't get a lot of love."
"The literary arts get overlooked in a lot of ways," moore said. "I want to put poetry in schools in a curricular way so it's not just a footnote in English courses."
She'll be working with some of the city's top muralists to plan works of art that incorporate poetry. moore said she wants to see the art "on the west side, the east side, the southwest — everywhere we can get it."
For the audio poetry chapbook, the plan is to have Detroiters from all walks of life share love for their city in the form of a haiku, which moore called one of the most accessible forms of poetry.
"If you can count 17 syllables you can write a haiku," she said.
Readings of the poems will then be recorded, organized and released online in such a way that anyone can access it free of charge.
moore said the full project is almost certain to exceed the grant total and she is seeking organizations to help contribute.
It's an ambitious project, but moore has already proven herself capable of big things. In addition to her award-winning poetry collections, she has produced theatrical performances, released music and published books including, most recently, "Your Crown Shines," a children's book.
"Detroiters are fortunate to have an internationally respected artist like jessica Care moore as their poet laureate, and this prestigious fellowship will help her have an even greater impact in the community," Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said in a statement.
The Academy of American Poets has awarded $7.65 million in fellowships to 149 poets laureate through its Poet Laureate Fellowship program since the program was established in 2019. Tess O'Dwyer, board chair of the academy, said that money has funded a wide array of projects across the country, including poetry festivals, cookbooks, poetry hotlines, prison workshops, public readings and billboards.
“At a time when more readers are turning to poetry to make sense of the world around us, American poets are beacons of free expression, cultural insight, and civic engagement," said Tess O'Dwyer, board chair of the Academy of American Poets.
The academy said more than 40 laureate positions have been created across the country since the program was established. City officials noted that Detroit is one of few American cities that has an official historian, a composer laureate and poet laureate.
"… I'm glad that our poet laureate, jessica Care moore is a force of nature and global icon who loves her city and helps introduce the world to Detroit's excellence,” said Rochelle Riley, director of Detroit Arts, Culture and Entrepreneurship, in a statement.
mreinhart@detroitnews.com
