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.
7:30-9 p.m. (doors open and sign-up begins at 6 p.m.), $10. 764-5118.
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.
7:30-9 p.m. (doors open and sign-up begins at 6 p.m.), $10. 764-5118.
The Hummingbird Global Writers’ Circle is an international reading series started by Dr. Debotri Dhar, CEW Visiting Scholar (2015-17) and Lecturer in Women’s Studies at the University of Michigan. The aim of this literary initiative is to bring writers and communities together in different parts of the world to foster a love of books, to discuss the craft of writing, and to promote creative dialogue and global understanding in small ways. The name was inspired by the tiny hummingbird which builds its home with just a few drops of nectar, a root here, a leaf there, and a little bit of sky.
The Circle’s themed readings by established and emerging writers are free and open to the community. The theme for the first event of the Circle is feminism/ gender, to be held on Monday August 21 (3-5 pm) at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
The writer-speakers for this session are Linda Gregerson, Laura Hulthen Thomas, Mike Ferro and Debotri Dhar (writer bios below), who will read from their poetry and fiction, followed by conversation /Q&A.
Light refreshments will be served. All members of the community are welcome to attend, however, RSVP is required. If you wish to hear our speakers read from their work, share tips, and engage in conversation, please RSVP to debotri@umich.edu.
Also at 8 pm
Original works by local wordsmiths: short play reading; fiction reading; storytelling; improv comedy
Ann Arbor Civic Theatre Studio, 322 W. Ann St. Donation. $10 suggested. 734-769-6982.
Nicola’s Books presents An Evening with Bruce Campbell featuring Last Fan Standing at 7:30 PM.
Hosted live by Bruce Campbell, Last Fan Standing is an interactive trivia quest built from four primary pillars of content, that include: fantasy, horror, sci-fi and superheroes. Not your average quiz show or trivia contest, Last Fan Standing tests your knowledge about the things that really matter. Through provided “audience response devices” (clickers if you insist on getting technical), each audience member participates in a series of multiple choice questions, where the players with the fastest-correct answers advance to the Podium Rounds. The Podium Rounds bring the top four (4) players from the audience to a winner-take-all trivia battle. After each round the player with the lowest score is eliminated, until there is only one….Last Fan Standing!
Tickets $35-$65. All tickets include a signed hardcover copy of “Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B Movie Actor,” Campbell’s latest memoir.
Tickets go on sale on Friday, July 14th at 10 AM and will be available at Nicola’s Books and all Ticketmaster outlets, including ticketmaster.com.
Open mike storytelling competition sponsored by The Moth, the NYC-based nonprofit storytelling organization that also produces a weekly public radio show. Each night 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.
7:30-9 p.m. (doors open and sign-up begins at 6:30 p.m.), Greyline (except as noted), 100 N. Ashley. $10. 764-5118.
Sweetwaters and Toastmaster community members are creating a new Toastmasters Club at Sweetwaters! We will have 1 or 2 prepared speeches, showcase some of our (kind, encouraging and gentle) evaluations of the speeches, and some opportunities for people to have impromptu speaking fun. There will also be a chance for Q & A during the meeting too.
Come a little early and pick-up a beverage or snack from the cafe and have fun making new friendships with encouraging and supportive people!
Sweetwaters Washington St., 123 W. Washington St. Ann Arbor, MI 48104. Free.joshs@sweetwaterscafe.com https://www.facebook.com/events/1053675414768433/
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
10:30 AM – Main Tent
Community Book Award Winner Presentation – James and Robin Agnew
11:00 AM – Main Tent – “Women in History” with Laurel Huber Davis, Theresa Kaminski, Greer Macallister and Pamela Toler with Barbara Mhangami-Ruwende as moderator
11:00 AM – Kerrytown Concert House –
“Terror in the City of Champions” with Tom Stanton moderated by D.E. Johnson
11:00 AM – Kerrytown Tent –
Mother Goose
11:45 AM – Kerrytown Tent – “Everyone Loves Dogs!” with Cartoonist Dave Coverly and Stacie Grissom and Morgane Chang from Bark Box and a FUNDRAISER for the Humane Society of Huron Valley Bountiful Bowls Program – Please bring dry dog or cat food or cat litter on the day of the event for donation to the program
12:15 PM – Main Tent – “Historical Suspense” with James R. Benn, Anna Lee Huber and Deanna Raybourn moderated by Nancy Herriman
12:15 PM – Kerrytown Concert House – “The Kelloggs: The Battling Brothers of Battle Creek” with Howard Markel
1:00 PM – Kerrytown Tent – “Fantasy and Adventure” with Middle Grade author Ted Sanders and moderated by Molly McCaffrey
1:30 PM – Main Tent –
“Literary Leanings” with Peter Ho Davies, Simon Van Booy moderated by Douglas Trevor
1:30 PM – Kerrytown Concert House –
“Civil Rights in 1960’s Detroit” with Stephen M. Ward and the story of James and Grace Lee Boggs
2:15 PM – Kerrytown Tent –
“YA Authors From Michigan!” with Erica Chapman, Kristin Bartley Lenz, Heather Meloche and Darcy Woods moderated by Patrick Flores-Scott
2:45 PM – Main Tent – “Short Stories from ‘Bob Seger’s House'” with Ellen Airgood, Loren D. Estelman, Gordon Henry and Michael Zadoorian moderated by M.L. Liebler
2:45 PM – Kerrytown Concert House – “A $500 Dollar House in Detroit” with Drew Philip and moderated by Desiree Cooper
3:30 PM – Kerrytown Tent –
“Page Turning Thrillers” with David Bell, Karen Dionne and Stephen Mack Jones moderated by Elizabeth Heiter
4:00 pm – Main Tent – “Poetic Musings” with Robert Fanning, Cindy Hunter Morgan, Keith Taylor and Z.G. Tomaszewski moderated by Zilka Joseph
4:00 pm – Kerrytown Concert House – “Washtenaw Literacy Volunteer Workshop” – Learn about becoming a volunteer for Washtenaw Literacy
Join us for this multi-media presentation about theater of the absurd including a theatrical performance by the actors performing “The Lesson” at the Yellow Barn. (Tickets for that performance available at the link below.)
Nicola’s Books will have copies of the play and also books about theater of the absurd on hand for purchase.
Theatre of the Absurd
Eugene Ionesco was born in Romania in 1912, but spent much of his life in France. “La Lecon” (“The Lesson”,) his second play, was written in 1950. Other playwrights whose plays are also considered to belong to the Theatre of the Absurd include Samuel Beckett, Edward Albee, and Harold Pinter. There have been many different interpretations of “Absurdist” theatre. One thought is that these playwrights wished to rebel against traditional theatre, and to comment on certain aspects of society and the human condition by writing these “anti-plays.” “The Lesson” has been interpreted to demonstrate “the impossibility of communication” between the professor and his pupil, and the use of language as an instrument of power. Other explanations are that the professor represents dominance and even political dictatorship, and the maid represents a mother figure, or perhaps the professor’s subconscious mind.
The Play is the longest continuously running performance in the world. It has been performed seven days a week at Paris’s’Theatre de la Huchette’ for sixty years, always to a full house of theatre goers.
Tickets for the Yellow Barn performance available at https://www.artful.ly/store/events/12966
Open mike storytelling competition sponsored by The Moth, the NYC-based nonprofit storytelling organization that also produces a weekly public radio show. Each night 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.
7:30-9 p.m. (doors open and sign-up begins at 6:30 p.m.), Greyline (except as noted), 100 N. Ashley. $10. 764-5118.
