Apr. 9 & 23. Open mike for storytellers, who each get 5 minutes to perform.
8-9:30 p.m., Sweetwaters, 123 W. Washington. Free. 769-2331.
Literati is excited to host author Laura Jean Baker who will be sharing and discussing her latest, The Motherhood Affidavits: A Memoir.
About The Motherhood Affidavits:
With the birth of her first child, Laura Jean Baker found herself electrified by oxytocin, the “love drug”–the first effective antidote to her lifelong depression. Again and again over the next eight years, Baker finds herself craving the intense highs of childbearing–cravings that, she realizes, align her much more closely with her public defender husband’s desperate, drug-addled clients than with their middle-class peers. As Ryan’s roster of defendants increases, so too does their family–nearly to the point of collapse.
Brilliantly crafted, impeccably written, intensely personal, The Motherhood Affidavits portrays a woman, a marriage, a family, caught in an impossible bind. Its heartbreaking resolution raises profound questions about whether we, as a society, are governed by morals or by laws–and whether either is an adequate measure of any one person’s ability to parent and capacity for love.
Laura Jean Baker earned her MFA in creative writing from the University of Michigan and teaches English and writing at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. She has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She lives in Oshkosh, WI, with her husband and five wildly inspiring children.
Reading by Franny Choi, a U-M creative writing grad student whose new chapbook, Death by Sex Machine, imagines the inner monologues of different femme cyborgs featured in movies and manga. The program begins with open mike readings.
7-8:30 p.m., Sweetwaters, 123 W. Washington. Free. 994-6663.
U-M Flint English professor emeritus Thomas Foster discusses his new primer that elucidates poetry by everyone from Lord Byron to the Beatles. Signing.
7 p.m., Nicola’s, Westgate shopping center. Free. 662-0600.
Wilson College (PA) political science professor Jill Abraham Hummer discusses her new book exploring how presidential wives have reflected the changing place of women in American society over the last century. Book sale, signing, and reception follow.
7 p.m., Ford Library, 1000 Beal. Free. 205-0555.
Toastmasters is an international group devoted to helping each other grow in our abilities to give speeches. The Sweetwaters Toastmasters Club meets twice monthly. We are a fun and friendly group! Toastmasters also helps you develop leadership skills if you wish to do that. Come as many times as you want for free, and decide later if you want to join. In the meantime, come make new friends and have fun!
Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea on Washington Street, 123 West Washington Street. Free. 323-286-3999. https://www.facebook.com/groups/TMSweet/
Wilson College (PA) political science professor Jill Abraham Hummer discusses her new book exploring how presidential wives have reflected the changing place of women in American society over the last century. Book sale, signing, and reception follow.
7 p.m., Ford Library, 1000 Beal. Free. 205-0555.
Readings by these 2 Michigan poets. Joseph’s 2016 collection, Sharp Blue Search of Flame, includes dark and brooding poems that reflect her Jewish Indian roots and her personal experiences living in Eastern and Western cultures. Fanning’s Our Sudden Museum is a 2017 collection of elegiac poems that explore what sustains us in loss. Signing.
7 p.m., Bookbound, Courtyard Shops. Free. 369-4345.
Ann Arbor District Library communications & marketing manager Richard Retyi discusses and reads from his book, a collection of 41 stories highlighting colorful moments in local history that’s one of the inaugural releases of the AADL Fifth Avenue Press. Part of Independent Bookstore Day, which features treats, giveaways, and surprises throughout the day.
4 p.m., Nicola’s, Westgate shopping center. Free. 662-0600
L.A. writer Caleb Roehrig discusses his new young adult thriller about 16-year-old Rufus, who begrudgingly joins forces with his ex-boyfriend to help Rufus’s sister when she’s suspected of murder. Signing.
3 p.m., Nicola’s, Westgate shopping center. Free. 662-0600.
