WSU prof-poet creates anthology detailing stories of the working class

A profile in the Detroit Free Press aptly calls a new anthology of working-class writings from Wayne State professor, poet and activist M.L. Liebler “a labor of love.” The collection features a pretty astonishing range of authors, from literary heavyweights like Walt Whitman and Willa Cather to Detroit writers Lolita Hernandez and Philip Levine — and even the lyrics of Eminem.

Excerpt:

“Acclaimed poet M.L. Liebler inherited a blue-collar outlook on life that helps drive his tireless efforts to promote the literary arts in metro Detroit and encourage other writers.

“People are going to say, ‘Well, yeah, you teach at a university,’ ” says Liebler, 57, who has taught English at Wayne State University for three decades. “Yeah, but it’s kind of like you can take the boy out of the working class, but you can’t take the working class out of the boy.”

Read more of the story here.