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Date: March 24, 2025
Media Contact:
Bob Wheaton, Director of Public and Governmental Affairs, 517-241-4395
Ken Coleman, Department Spokesperson, 517-241-4395
LANSING – Poet and writer Jim Daniels is the 2025-26 Michigan Author Award recipient, the Library of Michigan and Michigan Center for the Book announced today.
A native of Detroit, Daniels has authored 30 collections of poetry, seven collections of fiction and four produced screenplays. His most recent books include “An Ignorance of Trees: A Memoir in Essays,” non-fiction, Cornerstone Press, 2025; “The Luck of the Fall,” fiction, Michigan State University Press, 2023; and “The Human Engine at Dawn,” Wolfson Press, 2022, and “Comment Card,” Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2024, both poetry.
He has also edited or coedited six anthologies of writing. He is a recipient of two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and two from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Four of his works have been honored by the Michigan Notable Books program: “Birth Marks,” “Eight Mile High,” “Rowing Inland,” and “R E S P E C T: The Poetry of Detroit Music,” co-edited by M.L. Liebler.
Daniels holds degrees from Alma College and Bowling Green State University. He was previously on the faculty of the creative writing program at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh from 1981 to 2021. He also taught in the Antioch University-Los Angeles low-residency master of fine arts program from 2007 to 2021. Most recently, Daniels has served as a faculty member for the low-residency master of fine arts program at Alma College.
“Jim Daniels is an incredibly prolific writer,” said State Librarian Randy Riley, “His diverse collection of literary works offers endless doorways into the lives and experiences shared by everyday Michiganders.”
The Michigan Author Award is a lifetime achievement award that celebrates the collective career of a Michigan author. Over the years a diverse collection of writers working in a variety of genres and styles have been recognized. Recent recipients include Anne-Marie Oomen, Michael Zadoorian, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Mitch Albom, Christopher Paul Curtis and Beverly Jenkins. Find a complete list of past honorees on the Michigan Author Award page.
The Library of Michigan and Michigan Center for the Book will honor Daniels at a future event. Details will be announced once they have been finalized.
For more information or questions about the Michigan Author Award, please contact the Library of Michigan at 517-335-1477, visit www.Michigan.gov/MCFB, or email Librarian@Michigan.gov.
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The Library of Michigan is an agency within the Michigan Department of Education and is dedicated to providing the people of this state and their government one perpetual institution to collect, preserve and provide access to the story of the state, and to support libraries in their role as essential community anchors. To learn more, visit www.Michigan.gov/LibraryofMichigan.