A love letter to single parents: WMU alum publishes poetry collection

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Western Michigan University alumnus Dr. Andrew Collard is a man of many titles: parent, teacher and, now, published author. With the release of his book, “Sprawl,” Collard is moving forward in the literary world, adding new titles as he goes. 

“Sprawl” is a collection of poems about the Detroit area, pointing out particular historical events and landmarks of the region while telling part of the city’s story. It touches upon the auto industry, the newspaper strikes of the 1990s, labor, manufacturing and more, all in the form of a series of poems. 

“I draw inspiration from place quite a bit,” says Collard. “I'm very committed to writing about tangible experience.” 

In addition to Collard’s thematic representation of place, he also touches upon parts of life that aren’t often discussed: Collard writes about being a low-income single parent.  

“A lot of ‘Sprawl' is dealing with being a parent and a low-income person,” says Collard. “It's really about me and my son and is this kind of love letter to single parents on some level.” 

Collard graduated from Western in December 2022 with a Ph.D. in English. After completing “Sprawl,” Collard won the Hollis Summers Poetry Prize, ultimately putting the poetry collection in the hands of the Ohio University Press. Since publication, Collard has traveled for a book tour throughout Michigan at bookstores and other venues, sharing his work as he goes. 

“As an introvert, it was a little bit of a challenge,” says Collard. “But it’s been amazing. I got to meet a lot of different writers, people who are interested in poetry, and people who aren’t interested in poetry but see themselves in the poems.” 

Collard noted that a memorable part of the book tour experience was getting to visit the bookstore of his home town in Detroit. The nostalgia of reading his book at a place he frequented in his earlier years made up one of the most notable stops he completed. 

“I used to go to band concerts in their parking lot,” says Collard. “It was really great.” 

Collard’s writing experience was not necessarily romantic—working on the book while working full time as a parent did not leave much time for writing, according to him. Collard wrote mostly at night, once his child was asleep. 

“It’s hard when you’re working full time as a teacher, and then you’re a parent and you’re trying to get that writing time in,” says Collard. “What that looks like is just me being up late while my kiddo is asleep in the next room. There’s actually a poem about that in the book.” 

As of now, Collard is a visiting professor in creative writing at Grand Valley State University and is writing on the side. Since having a work published, Collard’s creativity has been on the rise. 

“I feel invincible, writing wise,” says Collard. “It has sent me on a writing tear. I’m working on new stuff.” 

For more WMU news, arts and events, visit WMU News online.