Royal Oak Recognizes Local Poet As 2023 Artist Laureate

ROYAL OAK, MI — The City of Royal Oak and the Commission for the Arts announced its 2023 - 2024 Artist Laureate, which is a program designed to recognize artists and their contributions to communities.

Roberta Brown, a long-time Royal Oak resident and award-winning poet, was selected as the program's second laureate and the first with a focus on poetry. Her nomination was confirmed at the Monday City Commission meeting.

Over the next year, Brown will host poetry writing workshops and readings of her work as part of her project. Each Artist Laureate receives a $5,000 stipend to complete the community project. The city will continue to publicize activities related to the Artist Laureate throughout the year.

In addition to local poetry readings, Brown will lead poetry workshops to encourage participants from the community to display their work publicly as part of the project. The Workshops will be led at the Royal Oak Library, Senior Center, local schools and other locations.

"As the goal for the 2023 Royal Oak Commission for the Arts is to bring art into our amazing parks and neighborhoods, this project would accomplish part of that goal by hosting poetry readings in our neighborhood parks – Normandy Oaks, Starr Jaycee and others – as well as places such as the Royal Oak Public Library, our schools and our Senior Centers," Brown said.

Brown has been engaged in the arts in the area through her writing and the Royal Oak Symphony. Additionally, she plays the oboe, percussion and bass guitar for a variety of bands, including the Royal Oak Symphony Orchestra, Troy Metro Symphony Orchestra, Friends of Four Hands, Woodside Bible Church Orchestra and more.

Brown's work publications include local newspapers, Peninsula Poets, Panoplyzine, The Michigander’s Post and Short Fiction Break. She also served as President of Detroit Working Writers from 2017-2021, and is a poetry editor for The MacGuffin, a literary journal published through Schoolcraft College.