Monthly open mike storytelling competition sponsored by The Moth, the NYC-based nonprofit storytelling organization that also produces a weekly public radio show. Each month 10 storytellers are selected at random from among those who sign up to tell a 3-5 minute story on the monthly theme. The 3 judges are recruited from the audience. Monthly winners compete in a semiannual Grand Slam. Space limited, so it’s smart to arrive early.
Note: Beginning in August, the Storyslam is held twice a month, on the 1st & 3rd Tuesdays.
7:30-9 p.m. (doors open and sign-up begins at 6 p.m.), The Circus, 210 S. First. $10. 764-5118.
On Aug. 4, local short story writer Alex Kourvo and young adult novelist Bethany Neal discuss why some scenes work and some don’t, which scenes your story must have, and how to write scenes that grip the reader while furthering the story. For adult and teen (grade 6 & up) fiction and nonfiction writers. Also, Kourvo and Neal host an open house for writers to connect with one another and/or work on their projects at 7 p.m. on Aug. 18.
Literati is pleased to welcome Madeline Diehl and Jennifer Metsker in support of the anthology Show Me All Your Scars: True Stories of Living with Mental Illness.
About the book:
Every year, one in four American adults suffers from a diagnosable mental health disorder. In these true stories, writers and their loved ones struggle as their worlds are upended. What do you do when your father kills himself, or your mother is committed to a psych ward, or your daughter starts hearing voices telling her to harm herselfor when you yourself hear such voices? Addressing bipolar disorder, OCD, trichillomania, self-harm, PTSD, and other diagnoses, these stories depict the difficulties and sorrows–and sometimes, too, the unexpected and surprising rewards–of living with mental illness.
About the speakers:
Jennifer Metsker lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan where she is the Writing Coordinator at the Stamps School of Art and Design. Her poetry, which often addresses issues related to mental illness, has appeared or is forthcoming in many journals includingThe Cincinnati Review, Cimarron Review, Gulf Coast, The Seattle Review, Whiskey Island, Rhino, Cream City Review, and Birdfeast. She has written art reviews forArthopper and Carbon Culture and recently was awarded the Third Coast Audio Shortdoc Prize for an audio piece that she created with artist Stephanie Rowden.
Madeline Strong Diehl has worked as a magazine journalist, editor, and grant writer for almost 30 years. She has won the T.S. Eliot poetry prize from the University of Kent at Canterbury and published a book of poetry, Wrestling with Angels (2013). Her comedies have been produced Off-Broadway and around the Midwest, and she has published dozens of humorous essays, believe it or not.
Cincinnati-based writer Michael Robert Wolf reads from and discusses his new novel, set in Brooklyn and Manhattan, about an Orthodox Jew, who used to operate a Linotype machine, and his two daughters. “This unassuming story of a devout Brooklyn Jew and his not-so-wayward daughter enchanted me,” says writer Jacquelyn Mitchard. “When I finished it, I wanted to read it all over again.”
Every 1st & 3rd Sun. All poets invited to compete in a poetry slam judged by a randomly chosen panel from the audience. The program begins with a poetry open mike and (occasionally) a short set by a featured poet.
7-9 p.m. (sign-up begins at 6:30 p.m.), Espresso Royale, 324 S. State. $5 suggested donation. facebook.com/AnnArborPoetrySlam.
Brutally Honest Storytelling Open Mic is a live storytelling event where the audience is free to be real as they want to be. No experience necessary. New storytellers or experienced storytellers – everyone has stories. OR just come to listen, that’s okay too!
Stories have a 5 minute time limits. Notes are okay!
Hosted by Shannon Cason (The Moth, Snap Judgment, RISK!, WBEZ’s Homemade Stories). Shannon is a host, MainStage storyteller and GrandSlam champion with The Moth. He is a regular on RISK! and NPR’s Snap Judgment. Shannon also hosts his own storytelling podcast with WBEZ Chicago called Shannon Cason’s Homemade Stories. He is a husband, father, and from Detroit.
$7 (age 20 & under, $10).patriciarwheeler@gmail.com http://www.shannoncason.com/ [
All invited to read and discuss their poetry or short stories. Bring about 6 copies of your work to share. Hosted by local poets and former college English teachers Joe Kelty and Ed Morin.
Monthly open mike storytelling competition sponsored by The Moth, the NYC-based nonprofit storytelling organization that also produces a weekly public radio show. Each month 10 storytellers are selected at random from among those who sign up to tell a 3-5 minute story on the monthly theme. The 3 judges are recruited from the audience. Monthly winners compete in a semiannual Grand Slam. Space limited, so it’s smart to arrive early.
Note: Beginning in August, the Storyslam is held twice a month, on the 1st & 3rd Tuesdays.
7:30-9 p.m. (doors open and sign-up begins at 6 p.m.), The Circus, 210 S. First. $10. 764-5118.
Local short story writer Alex Kourvo and young adult novelist Bethany Neal host an open house for writers to connect with one another and/or work on their projects.
Literati is pleased to welcome former Michigan Daily editor–and current Detroit News reporter–Stephanie Steinberg in support of In the Name of Editorial Freedom: 125 Years at the Michigan Daily.
About the book:
At a time when daily print newspapers across the country are failing, the Michigan Daily continues to thrive. Completely operated by students of the University of Michigan, the paper was founded in 1890 and covers national and international news topics ranging from politics to sports to entertainment. The Daily has been a vital part of the college experience for countless UM students, none more so than those who staffed the paper as editors, writers, and photographers over the years. Many of these Daily alumni are now award-winning journalists who work for the premier news outlets in the world.
In the Name of Editorial Freedom, titled after the paper s longstanding masthead, compiles original essays by some of the best-known Daily alumni about their time on staff. For example Dan Okrent, first public editor of the New York Times, discusses traveling with a cohort of Daily reporters to cover the explosive 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Rebecca Blumenstein, deputy editor-in-chief of theWall Street Journal, and author Alan Paul talk about the intensity of theDaily newsroom and the lasting relationships it forged. Adam Schefter of ESPN recalls his awkward first story that nevertheless set him on the path to become the ultimate NFL insider. The essays of this book offer a glimpse, as activist Tom Hayden writes, at the Daily‘s impressive role covering historic events and how those stories molded the lives of the students who reported them.
