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.
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.
All invited to listen to guild members swap stories or bring their own to tell.
On Aug. 8, local short story writer Alex Kourvo and young adult novelist Bethany Neal discuss how to figure out exactly where your novel or non-fiction book belongs on the shelf, and why knowing that is crucial to its success. 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. 22.
Peter Ho Davies is the author of two novels, The Fortunes and The Welsh Girl (long-listed for the Man Booker Prize), and two short story collections, The Ugliest House in the World (winner of the John Llewelyn Rhys Prize) and Equal Love (A New York Times Notable Book).
His work has appeared in Harpers, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, The Guardian and Washington Post among others, and has been widely anthologized, including selections for Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards and Best American Short Stories. In 2003 Granta magazine named him among its Best of Young British Novelists.
Davies is also a recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and is a winner of the PEN/Malamud Award.
Born in Britain to Welsh and Chinese parents, he now makes his home in the US. He has taught at the University of Oregon and Emory University, and is currently on the faculty of the Helen Zell MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Aunt Agatha’s co-owner (and BookFest president) Robin Agnew discusses the 13th annual BookFest and introduces a new AADL exhibit organized in conjunction with the BookFest that showcases entries in its 9th annual Book Cover design contest for high school students, who were asked this year to design a cover for Andrea Hannah’s debut novel, the crime thriller Of Scars and Stardust. Agnew also announces the contest winners. The exhibit also features a brief history of the contest. Also, live music by harpist Deborah Gabrion and refreshments.
Started in 2003, the Kerrytown BookFest is an event celebrating those who create books and those who read them. The primary goal is to highlight the area’s rich heritage in the book and printing arts while showcasing local and regional individuals, businesses, and organizations. Since 2003 we have been growing, sharing, and discovering more and more about the rich book culture in our region.
The BookFest features authors, storytellers, publishers bookbinders, book artists, book illustrators, poets, letterpress printers, wood engravers, calligraphers, papermakers, librarians, teachers, publishers, new, used, and antiquarian booksellers and many others associated with books and their diverse forms, structure, and content.
More information at kerrytownbookfest.org
This year’s theme is “Travels with Books”.
A special feature this year is our third annual Writer in Residence, R.J. Fox. This teacher and author will critique manuscripts submitted ahead of time the day of the festival. Contact Hart Johnson, hartjohnson23@gmail.com, to reserve a slot.
Main Tent
10:30 – 11 a.m. 9th Annual Community Book Award Presentation to Washtenaw Literacy. Director Amy Goodman will accept the award, presented by board member Dallas Moore. Free coffee and donuts will be served in the Main Tent to help celebrate Washtenaw Literacy and kick off the day.
11:00 a.m.- Noon Under the Radar Michigan’s Tom Daldin talks about Michigan’s undiscovered gems.
12:15 – 1:15 p.m. The Quest for Identity Writers Desiree Cooper (Know the Mother), Kelly Fordon (Garden of the Blind), and Andrew Mozina (Contrary Motion) discuss their work with moderator and author Donald Lystra(Something That Feels Like Truth).
1:30 – 2:30 p.m. A Mysterious Sense of Place Mystery writers William Kent Krueger (Manitou Canyon), Hank Phillippi Ryan (What You See) andPatricia Abbott (Shot in Detroit) discuss the sense of place in their novels with author and moderator Carrie Smith (Silent City).
2:45 – 3:45 p.m. Travel through Time with author B.A. Shapiro, who discusses her novels The Art Forger and The Muralist with art historianEllen Longsworth.
4 p.m. Travel North with John Smolens as he discusses his writing and his latest novel Wolf’s Mouth with writer and moderator Benjamin Busch (Dust to Dust).
Kerrytown Concert House
11:00 a.m. – Noon Writing for Hire Join writers Casey Daniels (Irish Stewed) and Vicky Delany (Reading up a Storm), as they discuss the many ways to make a living writing. Both of them have written books “for hire” from TV adaptations to cozy mysteries to flashcards to Goosebumpsinstallments. They’ll discuss the state of publishing today with writer and moderator Barbara Gregorich (Guide to Writing the Mystery Novel: Lots of Examples, Plus Dead Bodies).
12:15 – 1:15 p.m. Stride’s Duluth Thriller writer Brian Freeman illustrates with photos taken on photo safari in Duluth, Minnesota, how he uses the setting to inform his Jonathan Stride novels. He’ll read a passage from one of them to show how his setting influences his writing.
1:30 – 2:30 p.m. Eating Wildly with Ava Chin, who discusses her book on urban foraging with bookseller and moderator Rachel Pastiva, the manager of Crazy Wisdom.
2:45 – 3:45 p.m. Travel the Lakes with Loreen Niewenhuis, who has walked around the entire Great Lakes. She’ll be interviewed by authorMaureen Dunphy (Great Lakes Island Escapes).
4 p.m. The ABCs of Washtenaw Literacy, an informative tour of the agency’s highly effective programs including a video and a presentation from learners.
Children’s Tent
11-11:45 a.m. the beloved Mother Goose shares nursery rhymes with the littlest BookFest visitors
11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Shanda Trent reads her new book Giddy-Up, Buckaroos
12:15 – 1 p.m. Writer Kristen Remenar and illustrator Matt Faulkner read their latest collaboration Groundhog’s Dilemma
1 – 1:45 p.m. author Kelly DiPuccio shares How to Potty Train Your Dragon
2 – 3;30 p.m. Storytellers Laura Pershin Raynor and Kayla Coughlinentertain listeners of all ages & share a craft.
3:30 – 5 p.m. writer & illustrator Ruth McNally Barshaw (Ellie McDoodle)leads a drawing workshop – “How to make a Lion from a 5″
Writer in Residence R.J. Fox, ongoing through the day. Mr. Fox will critique the first twenty pages of your manuscript. For information and to reserve a slot, contact Hart Johnson at hartjohnson23@gmail.com.
The Edible Book Contest is open to anyone; entries can be dropped off beginning at 9:30 a.m. the day of the bookfest. More details to come.
We are thrilled to welcome acclaimed journalist and author Peter Kornbluh, who accompanied President Obama on his historic visit to Cuba, to Literati Bookstore. Peter will be joined in conversation by the University of Michigan’s Jesse Hoffnung-Garskof. Refreshments will be provided thanks to UM’s Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies and Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, generous co-sponsors of this event.
About Back Channel to Cuba:
History is being made in U.S.-Cuban relations. Updated to tell the real story behind the stunning December 17, 2014 announcement by President Obama and President Castro of their move to restore full diplomatic relations, this powerful book is essential to understanding ongoing efforts toward normalization in a new era of engagement. Challenging the conventional wisdom of perpetual conflict and aggression between the United States and Cuba since 1959, Back Channel to Cuba chronicles a surprising, untold history of bilateral efforts toward rapprochement and reconciliation. William M. LeoGrande and Peter Kornbluh here present a remarkably new and relevant account, describing how, despite the intense political clamor surrounding efforts to improve relations with Havana, negotiations have been conducted by every presidential administration since Eisenhower’s through secret, back-channel diplomacy. From John F. Kennedy’s offering of an olive branch to Fidel Castro after the missile crisis, to Henry Kissinger’s top secret quest for normalization, to Barack Obama’s promise of a new approach, LeoGrande and Kornbluh uncovered hundreds of formerly secret U.S. documents and conducted interviews with dozens of negotiators, intermediaries, and policy makers, including Fidel Castro and Jimmy Carter. They reveal a fifty-year record of dialogue and negotiations, both open and furtive, that provides the historical foundation for the dramatic breakthrough in U.S.-Cuba ties.
Peter Kornbluh directs the Cuba Documentation Project and the Chile Documentation Project at the National Security Archive in Washington, DC, and is co-author, with William M. LeoGrande, of Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations Between Washington and Havana. Kornbluh is also the author of The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountabilityand Bay of Pigs Declassified: The Secret CIA Report on the Invasion of Cuba. He writes regularly for The Nation.
Jesse Hoffnung-Garskof is Associate Professor of History, American Culture, and Latina/o Studies at the University of Michigan. He is the author of A Tale of Two Cities: Santo Domingo and New York After 1950.
Literati is proud to be the bookseller for the United Way of Washtenaw County’s 2016 Campaign Kickoff. H. Luke Shaefer, co-author of $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America, will address the growing economic disparity in Washtenaw County. Individual tickets cost $29 and can be purchased here.
H. Luke Shaefer is an associate professor of social work and public policy at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. His research focuses on the effectiveness of the United States social safety net in serving low-wage workers and economically disadvantaged families. His recent work explores rising levels of extreme poverty in the United States, the impact of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other means-tested programs on material hardships, and barriers to unemployment insurance faced by vulnerable workers.
The Ross School of Business is excited to welcome Malcolm Gladwell to the University of Michigan! Malcolm is the author of five New York Times best-sellers and one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people. The acclaimed author of The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, What the Dog Saw, and David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants, Gladwell will present, “The Innovator’s Heart: The Social Context of Entrepreneurship,” where he will discuss business creation from his unique and often provocative point of view. Join us as we engage around Malcolm’s perspectives and a topic close to our hearts at U-M: Entrepreneurship.
This event is open to the public. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Hill Auditorium, 825 N University Ave. Free.
