Robert Laidler

Robert Laidler

Robert Laidler is an assistant professor at Wayne State and the author of a poetic libretto, The Fallen Petals of Nameless Flowers, which premiered at Chamber Music Detroit in 2022. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan's Helen Zell Writing Program. 

Education

• Master of Fine Arts, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
• Master of Arts, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
• Bachelor of Arts, Oakland University, Rochester, MI

Awards and grants

• Finalist for The National Poetry Series, 2023
• Finalist for the Driftwood Press Chapbook Competition, 2023
• Nominated for Best of The Net Poetry Anthology, 2023
• Finalist for the Jeffrey E. Smith Editors' Prize, Missouri Review, 2022
• Finalist for the Driftwood Press Chapbook Competition, 2022
• Long Listed for the Palette Poetry Chapbook Competition, 2022
• Theodore Roethke Hopwood Award (2nd Place), 2022
• Full-length Manuscript Hopwood Award (2nd place), 2022
• Meader Family Hopwood Award winner, 2021
• Theodore Roethke Hopwood Award Finalist, 2021

News mentions

• Scattered to the winds (Fallen Petals of Nameless Flowers, Chamber Music Magazine, 2022)
• Michigan's juvenile lifers inspire new piece commissioned by Chamber Music Detroit
• Chamber Music Detroit premieres new suite in Beverly Hills
• Ever Young: A Poetry Performance Inspired by the Photography of James Barnor
• Juvenile lifers subject of Chamber Music Detroit performance
• Chamber Music Detroit Presents World Premiere Featuring Imani Winds & Friends in April
• Voice for the voiceless

Selected publications

• "City of Fellowship" & "Fellow child," Ilanot Review
• "The King Killer in Newspaper Ads," Threefold Press
• Excerpt from "Epistle," Missouri Review
• "P," Driftwood anthology
• "Occhiolism," Ghost City Review
• "Wedlock," Poet Lore
• "Immured," Cruel Garters 

Courses taught by Robert Laidler

Fall Term 2024 (future)

• AFS2390 - Introduction to African-American Literature: Writing about Texts
• ENG2390 - Introduction to African-American Literature: Writing about Texts
• ENG3810 - Poetry Writing

Winter Term 2024

• ENG2800 - Techniques of Imaginative Writing
• ENG5870 - Poetry Writing Workshop

Fall Term 2023

• ENG1020 - Introductory College Writing
• ENG2800 - Techniques of Imaginative Writing
• ENG3800 - Introduction to Creative Writing

Winter Term 2023

• ENG1020 - Introductory College Writing
• ENG2800 - Techniques of Imaginative Writing

Fall Term 2022

• ENG1020 - Introductory College Writing
• ENG3800 - Introduction to Creative Writing