Michael Kleber-Diggs
Visiting Instructor, English and Creative Writing
Poetry, Contemporary American Poetry, Poetic Craft, Creative Nonfiction, and Literary Criticism
Old Main 217
Michael Kleber-Diggs is a poet, essayist, and literary critic. He is the author of My Weight in Water, a memoir about his complicated relationship with lap swimming (forthcoming with Spiegel & Grau, 2026). Michael’s debut poetry collection, Worldly Things, won the Max Ritvo Poetry Prize and was published by Milkweed Editions in 2021. His essay “There Was a Tremendous Softness” appears in A Darker Wilderness: Black Nature Writing from Soil to Stars (edited by Erin Sharkey), and his essay “On the Complex Flavors of Black Joy” appears in There’s a Revolution Outside, My Love: Letters from a Crisis (edited by Tracy K. Smith and John Freeman). His poems have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. Michael is a 2023-2025 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow in Literature. He is married to Karen Kleber-Diggs, a tropical horticulturist and orchid specialist. Karen and Michael have a daughter, Elinor, who lives in New York City and works as a professional dancer.
Areas of Study
Poetry
Contemporary American Poetry
Poetic Craft
Creative Nonfiction
Literary Criticism
Course for Spring 2026
ENGL 150-07 Introduction to Creative Writing