5 Stories for 25 Years: Aja
2015-2020: Aja “Citywide Poets brought me to the realization that everybody is individual and important.” Aja performing her original work at InsideOut's Detroit Youth Poetry Grand Slam. (2019) Before I started Citywide Poets, I wasn’t doing poetry in secret, but I did [...]
5 Stories for 25 Years: Candance
2010-2015: Candance Why I Write by Candance I write when people say I taIk too much. I write to set the world aflame. I write to speak for those who are afraid to. I write to state my rights. I write to represent my [...]
5 Stories for 25 Years: Justin Rogers
2005-2010: Justin Rogers "Citywide Poets was pivotal in my social and professional life because it offered me a sense of direction and hope." When Writer-in-Residence Nandi Comer found me in 12th grade of high school, I was a very shy student trying to navigate [...]
5 Stories for 25 Years: Jasmine Dorsey
2000-2005: Jasmine Dorsey "This program is the reason I graduated high school.” I didn’t belong to any crew or group in high school because I always felt so different. I always felt alone because I felt too mature to even have friends in high [...]
5 Stories for 25 Years: Michael R. Jackson
1995-2000: Michael R. Jackson “Literally every aspect of my writing career came because a teacher encouraged me." Photo Credit: Zack DeZon I’m Michael R. Jackson, and I’m from Detroit, Michigan. I grew up on the west side of Detroit, right off the Southfield Freeway. [...]
