All of Lansing’s poet laureates welcome newest member of their small club

Meet Lansing Poet Laureate Suban Nur Cooley, who was recognized earlier this month in a ceremony that included all of Lansing’s previous poet laureates.

Nur Cooley is an assistant professor in the Department of African American and African Studies at Michigan State University.

Her tenure as Lansing’s fifth poet laureate runs for two years.

“I am deeply honored and excited to serve Greater Lansing as its next poet laureate, not only because I love the written word—but also because I deeply love this community,” said Nur Cooley.  “Lansing has long shaped my personal voice and journey, and serving as poet laureate allows me to offer up that voice back to the city, connecting and conversing with others about what makes it so special: its people.”

Nur Cooley was joined by previous laureates Dennis Hinrichsen (2018-2020), Laura Apol (2020-2022), Maskai Takahashi (2022-2024) and Ruelaine Stokes (2024-2026) during a Passing the Laurel ceremony at a capacity crowd in the Robin Theatre on April 7.

The Lansing Poet Laureate project was launched in 2017 to promote poetry as an art form.  It is administered by the Arts Council of Greater Lansing, and sponsored by the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP), RCAH Center for Poetry at MSU, and the Lansing Poetry Club.