Open mike storytelling competition sponsored by The Moth, the NYC-based nonprofit that also produces a weekly public radio show. Ten storytellers are selected at random to tell a 3-5 minute story–this month’s themes are “Delusions” (Feb. 5) & “Flight” (Feb 19)–judged by a 3-person team recruited from the audience. Monthly winners compete in a semiannual Grand Slam. Seating limited, so arrive early.
7:30-9 p.m. (doors open and sign-up begins at 6 p.m.), Greyline, 100 N. Ashley. General admission tickets $10 in advance only at themoth.org beginning a week before each event. 764-5118.
What is your story? Why is it important? What can we learn about ourselves and others when we put pen to paper to tell our stories? In this two-part writing workshop, staff from EMU’s Office of Campus and Community Writing will help you explore the stories of your life, focus on one significant moment, and write about that experience. No experience in writing memoirs? No worries! We’re here to support you as you discover the power of your own words and memories.
The Ypsilanti District Library- Whittaker Branch, 5577 Whittaker Road, Ypsilanti. Free. 734-482-4110 x1377. info@ypsilibrary.org www.ypsilibrary.org/event/telling-your-story-the-power-of-words-2/2019-02-13/
Join us for a presentation featuring cultural anthropologist Veronica Kirin, the author of Stories of Elders: What the Greatest Generation Knows About Technology that You Don’t. In 2015, Kirin drove 11,000 miles across more than 40 states to interview the last living members of the Greatest Generation. Stories of Elders is the result of her years of work to capture and share their perspective for generations to come. Kirin will join us to share not only stories from her book but also the accompanying documentary.
About the Book
America’s Greatest Generation (born before 1945) witnessed incredible changes in technology and social progress. From simple improvements in entertainment to life-changing medical advances, technology changed the way they live, work, and identify. Sadly, with each passing year, fewer members of the Greatest Generation remain alive to share their wisdom as the last Americans to grow up before the digital revolution.
In 2015, Millennial author and cultural anthropologist Veronica Kirin drove 11,000 miles across more than 40 states to interview the last living members of the Greatest Generation. Stories of Elders is the result of her years of work to capture and share their perspective for generations to come.
About the Author
Anthropologist turned serial entrepreneur Veronica Kirin has a passion for telling stories and connecting with the past. Her desire to study social changes through people drove her to write about technology and its impact on culture through the eyes of the Greatest Generation.
Kirin was named by Forbes as a notable graduate of Grand Valley State University, a 40 Under 40 Business Leader, has been recognized as the founder of a Top Women Owned Business, and is the first business in Grand Rapids, Michigan to be certified by the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. She offers entrepreneurial coaching to LGBTQ business owners who wish to scale their businesses so they work less, grow faster, and earn more.
Every Wed. Members read and discuss poems around themes TBA. Followed by collaborative writing games and exercises. Attendees invited to read their poems. Snacks & socializing.
8-10 p.m., Argus Farm Stop greenhouse, 325 W. Liberty. $5 suggested donation. onepausepoetry.org, 707-1284.
Literati is thrilled to welcome author Caleb Roehrig who will be sharing his new novel Death Prefers Blondes.
About Death Prefers Blondes:
Teenage socialite Margo Manning leads a dangerous double life. By day, she dodges the paparazzi while soaking up California sunshine. By night, however, she dodges security cameras and armed guards, pulling off high-stakes cat burglaries with a team of flamboyant young men. In and out of disguise, she’s in all the headlines.
But then Margo’s personal life takes a sudden, dark turn, and a job to end all jobs lands her crew in deadly peril. Overnight, everything she’s ever counted on is put at risk. Backs against the wall, the resourceful thieves must draw on their special skills to survive. But can one rebel heiress and four kickboxing drag queens withstand the slings and arrows of truly outrageous fortune? Or will a mounting sea of troubles end them–for good?
Caleb Roehrig is the author of White Rabbit and Last Seen Leaving, which was called one of the Best YA Novels of 2016 by Buzzfeed.com. Caleb lives with his husband in Chicago.
Literati is proud to be partnering with the Helen Zell Writers Program to host poet Ada Limón at the University of Michigan Art Museum Helmet Stern Auditorium.
Ada Limón is the author of four books of poetry, including Bright Dead Things, which was named a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Award. Her work has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, and American Poetry Review, among others. She lives in both Kentucky and California.
Literati is proud to partner with the Helen Zell Writers’ Program to host the J. Edgar Edwards Reading Series, a reading series organized by first year poetry and fiction students.
This istallment features Annesha Sengupta, Kassy Lee, Carl Lavigne, and Jennifer Huang.
Michigan Theater and Nicola’s Books will host a conversation with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on the threat of fascism and how we can avoid repeating the tragic errors of the past, in connection with her newest book Fascism: A Warning. The conversation will be followed by a Q & A and an opportunity to have your book personalized. All tickets will include a signed copy of the book.
Literati is excited to host this special panel discussion with contributors from the new book Elemental: A Collection of Creative Nonfiction
About Elemental: A Collection of Creative Nonfiction:
Elemental: A Collection of Michigan Creative Nonfiction comes to us from twenty-three of Michigan’s most well-known essayists. A celebration of the elements, this collection is both the storm and the shelter. In her introduction, editor Anne-Marie Oomen recalls the “ritual dousing” of her storytelling group’s bonfire: “wind, earth, fire, water-all of it simultaneous in that one gesture. . . . In that moment we are bound together with these elements and with this place, the circle around the fire on the shores of a Great Lake closes, complete.”
The essays approach Michigan at the atomic level. This is a place where weather patterns and ecology matter. Farmers, miners, shippers, and loggers have built (or lost) their livelihood on Michigan’s nature-what could and could not be made out of our elements. From freshwater lakes that have shaped the ground beneath our feet to the industrial ebb and flow of iron ore and wind power-ours is a state of survival and transformation. In the first section of the book, “Earth,” Jerry Dennis remembers working construction in northern Michigan. “Water” includes a piece from Jessica Mesman, who writes of the appearance of snow in different iterations throughout her life. The section “Wind” houses essays about the ungraspable nature of death from Toi Dericotte and Keith Taylor. “Fire” includes a piece by Mardi Jo Link, who recollects the unfortunate series of circumstances surrounding one of her family members.
Elemental‘s strength lies in its ability to learn from the past in the hope of defining a wiser future. A lot of literature can make this claim, but not all of it comes together so organically. Fans of nonfiction that reads as beautifully as fiction will love this collection.
Anne-Marie Oomen is author of Love, Sex, and 4-H, House of Fields, Pulling Down the Barn, and Uncoded Woman, among others. She teaches at Solstice MFA at Pine Manor College, Interlochen’s College of Creative Arts, and at conferences throughout the country.
Feb. 11, 12, 18, 19, & 21.
U-M students, nominated by their instructors, read their poems and short stories. Today includes RC writing student Jenna Vallina. Light refreshments.
7-8:30 p.m., U-M Shapiro Undergrad Library Lobby, 919 South University. Free. 764-7493.
