Calendar

Jun
23
Sun
RC Drama: Twelfth Night @ Arboretum (Peony Garden entrance)
Jun 23 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

The 2019 Shakespeare in the Arb play is Twelfth Night, Shakespeare’s story of love and identity, mistaken and otherwise, brims with some of the bard’s most well-loved speeches and songs.

The performance dates and times: Thurs.-Sun., June 6-9; 13-16; 20-23, 6:30 pm.

Now in its 19th year, Shakespeare in the Arb is directed by Kate Mendeloff of the U-M Residential College, Carol Gray, and Graham Atkin, and performed by U-M students and community players. Matthaei-Nichols members receive a discount on tickets. Matthaei-Nichols members may reserve tickets through their online box office beginning in May, and reserve tickets for any performance up to 24 hours before show time and pick up at will call.

For member and non-member questions and information, visit mbgna.umich.edu

 

Shakespeare in the Arb came into existence in the summer of 2001, when Residential College Drama faculty member Kate Mendeloff was asked to direct an outdoor production as part of a three year Ford Motor Company grant for Arts in the Nichols Arboretum. She chose Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for its structure — the characters were transformed by the power of the natural world. The production was such a popular success that Mendeloff remounted it the following summer, and “Shakespeare in the Arb” became an Ann Arbor tradition!

The unique experience of Shakespeare in the Arb comes from the environmental staging of the plays. There is no fixed stage; instead, the audience follows the action through different locations in the Arboretum. The staging takes advantage of the vistas and valleys, the special arrangements of the natural settings.

The wide open space of the Arb becomes a panoramic stage, creating a more realistic setting than if every scene was played out directly in front of you. As one critic commented, “The actors used the vastness of its Arb stage to full advantage, making entrances from behind trees, appearing over rises and vanishing into the woods.”

Every year, many UM students, alumni, and faculty members gather to act in Shakespeare in the Arb. The RC offers Spring term class credit to students who participate. The experience blends community, student, and professional-style participation in a theatrical production with the delicate ecology and beautiful environment of the Arb, providing dynamic educational value for participating students.

Auditions occur every April, with rehearsals starting in the Spring term. Performances occur over 3 weekends in June. For information about participation, please contact founder Kate Mendeloff.

To find information about this year’s production of Shakespeare in the Arb, go to Matthei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum (MBGNA) , or like Shakespeare in the Arb on Facebook for updates on the production!

Jun
24
Mon
Kim Darst: The Iditarod Sled Dog Race Experience @ AADL Downtown
Jun 24 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Kim Darst from Husky Haven Sled Dogs will share her experience competing in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska.  Husky Haven Sled Dogs was established in 1999 with two Samoyeds and a dream to run the Iditarod. In 2009 that dream came true, and they were the first team from New Jersey to qualify, enter, and run the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. Come learn about what it takes to train for the Iditarod, and meet one of Kim’s sled dogs!  Copies of Cotton’s Tale, a children’s book about Kim’s story, will be available for sale.

Jun
27
Thu
Tom Grace: The Thriller Alchemist @ Towsley Auditorium, Washtenaw Community College
Jun 27 @ 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Tom Grace is the internationally bestselling author of the Nolan Kilkenny thrillers “Undeniable”, “The Secret Cardinal”, “Bird of Prey”, “Twisted Web”, “Quantum” and “Spyder Web”; and the stand-alone thriller “The Liberty Intrigue”. His books have been translated into eight languages and sold in over twenty-five countries. Grace was born and raised in Michigan, and graduated twice from the University of Michigan with degrees in architecture. He is a member of the International Thriller Writers and resides in Michigan with his family.

The lights dimmed in the auditorium and the speaker for the OLLI Local Author lecture stood center stage. “Imagine if we were to discover a body among us,” he began, “that of a person who met a most unnatural end. There would be an investigation and we would have ourselves a mystery. But if, with the body, we found clues to a looming tragedy and the clock is ticking—then we have a thriller!”

This is the second in a three-lecture series. The subject is A Celebration of Local Authors. The next lecture will take place July 11, 2019. The title is William W. Cook and His Michigan Law Quadrangle.

Jul
6
Sat
Booksilanti Readers Fair @ Ypsilanti Freight House
Jul 6 @ 9:00 pm – 9:15 pm

This free, family-friendly event will feature local authors, crafts, book-ish artisans, kids’ story hours and more. Additional details, vendors and schedule below!

9 am – 4pm Vendors open!
All day: Take a book, leave a book. Find a new friend and pass on an old favorite! Any leftover books will be donated to the Ypsilanti District Library.
9 am – 3:30pm Creative Reuse Bookmark Making Station with SCRAP Box (Great Hall)
10 am – 11am Kids’ Storytime with TBD (Cafe)
12 pm – 1pm Kids’ Storytime with Black Men Read (Cafe)
2 pm – 3pm Kids’ Spanish Storytime with Cristina Heredia (Cafe)

— 2019 Vendors —
Bookstores:
Black Stone Bookstore & Cultural Center
Nicola’s Books Ann Arbor
Bookbound Bookstore

Children’s authors:
Jordan J. Scavone – Children’s Author
Lisa Rose
Debbie Taylor (author, ‘Sweet Music in Harlem’)
Kristin & Brad Northrup (authors, ‘Akeina the Crocodile’)

Adult authors:
Ken MacGregor’s Stories / LVP Publications (local horror author and anthologist)
Fifth Avenue Press
Thomas Gregory
Crysta K. Coburn
Patti Smith
Charles Taylor (author, ‘Dark Rhythm’)
Geezer girl (Jeanne Adwani)
Linda Jeffries (author, ‘We Thought We Knew You’ & ‘Who You Might Be’)

Young adult authors:
Shannon McGee
Lori Alden Holuta

Artisans:
Bunny and Smooch
Typewriter Poems Bespoke by A. Probst
Woodland Caravan
Jesse Rubenfeld Illustrations
Ephemeral Books
Jen Talley Art & Design
Clever Creations by Amy

Non-profits and other friends:
Friends of the Ypsilanti District Library
Washtenaw Literacy
SCRAP Box
Trader Joe’s-Ann Arbor,MI
BookDay : Booker T. Washington Holiday

Jul
8
Mon
Lisa Lenzo, Natalie Ruth Joynton, and Elizabeth Schmuhl @ Literati
Jul 8 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

We welcome three authors with recent works published by Wayne State University Press’s Made in Michigan Writers Series! After reading, each author will be available to sign books. The event is free and open to the public. 

Lisa Lenzo is the author of Within the Lighted City, chosen by Ann Beattie for the 1997 John Simmons Short Fiction Award, and 2015 Michigan Notable Book Award winner Strange Love (Wayne State University Press). Lenzo’s other awards include a PEN Syndicated Fiction Award, a Hemingway Days Festival Award, and First Prize for Fiction in the 2017 Literature and Medicine Writing Contest. Her stories and essays have appeared in Arts & Letters, Michigan Quarterly Review, Sacred Ground: Stories about Home, Fresh Water: Women Writing on the Great Lakes, and on NPR.

Natalie Ruth Joynton‘s work has appeared in American Poetry Review, Michigan Quarterly, and Poetry International. She is the recipient of the 2010 Scholl/Thompson Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets as well as a Quintilian Excellence in Teaching Award from Purdue University, where she earned her MFA in Creative Writing. Natalie lives, writes, and teaches in rural Michigan.

Elizabeth Schmuhl is a multidisciplinary artist whose work appears in Michigan Quarterly Review, The Rumpus, Paper Darts, PANK, Hobart, Pinwheel, and elsewhere. She has worked at various nonprofits, including the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, and currently works at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is also an RC creative writing alumna!

 

Jul
10
Wed
Poetry and the Written Word @ Crazy Wisdom
Jul 10 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Crazy Wisdom Poetry Series hosted by Joe Kelty, Ed Morin, and David Jibson • Second and Fourth Wednesdays, 7-9 p.m. in the Crazy Wisdom Tea Room • Second Wednesdays are poetry workshop nights. All writers welcome to share and discuss their own poetry and short fiction. Sign up for new participants begins at 6:45 p.m.

Fourth Wednesdays have a featured reader for 50 minutes and then open mic for an hour. All writers welcome to share. Sign up begins at 6:45 p.m. Free. Contact Ed at 668-7523; eacmorso@sbcglobal.net or cwpoetrycircle.tumblr.com.

 

Jul
11
Thu
Margaret Leary: William W. Cook and His Michigan Law Quadrangle @ Towsley Auditorium, Washtenaw Community College
Jul 11 @ 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Margaret A. Leary became director of the Law Library in 1984 and retired in 2011. From 1973 to 1981, she served as assistant director and from 1982 to 1984, as associate director. She received a BA from Cornell University, an MA from the University of Minnesota School of Library Science, and a JD from the William Mitchell College of Law. Leary worked to build the comprehensive library collection to support current and future research in law and a wide range of disciplines. She also developed strong services to support faculty research. Her biography of William W. Cook was published by the University of Michigan Press in fall 2011. Giving It All Away: The Story of William W. Cook and His Michigan Law Quad describes Cook’s family background, his education at Michigan, and his great success in New York City, which generated the money he was to give to Michigan Law.

This is the third in a three-lecture series.

Jul
21
Sun
3rd Annual Detroit Festival of Books @ Eastern Market, Shed 3
Jul 21 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

What/Why:

3rd Annual Detroit Festival of Books (aka: Detroit Bookfest)! FREE!

Sunday, July 21, 2019

10am-4pm

Eastern Market
Shed3
2934 Russell Street
Detroit, Michigan

FREE entry for attendees!

Website
detroitbookfest.com

Questions
books at detroitbookfest dot com

200+ vendors

10,000+ attendees

BOOKS (ie: Used, Rare, Antiquarian, Unusual, Ephemera, Authors, etc)

Art
Comic Books
Maps
Vintage Board Games
Vinyl Records
And more!

Food
Beer
And…..FUNK MUSIC!

Official Bookfest Afterparty @ Eastern Market Brewing Company down the street!

Jul
24
Wed
Poetry and the Written Word: Ian Haight @ Crazy Wisdom
Jul 24 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Crazy Wisdom Poetry Series hosted by Joe Kelty, Ed Morin, and David Jibson • Second and Fourth Wednesdays, 7-9 p.m. in the Crazy Wisdom Tea Room • Second Wednesdays are poetry workshop nights. All writers welcome to share and discuss their own poetry and short fiction. Sign up for new participants begins at 6:45 p.m.

Fourth Wednesdays have a featured reader for 50 minutes and then open mic for an hour. All writers welcome to share. Sign up begins at 6:45 p.m. Free. Contact Ed at 668-7523; eacmorso@sbcglobal.net or cwpoetrycircle.tumblr.com.

July 24 • Ian Haight is an author, translator, and editor who graduated from U-M’s Residential College, worked with the UN, was a tenured professor at a Korean university, and now resides in Germany. His book, Celadon, won the First Book Prize in Poetry from Unicorn Press. He communicates an international, spiritually-minded aesthetic. Visit ianhaight.com.

 

 

Aug
7
Wed
Sean Sherman: The Sioux Chef: A Tasting Menu Experience @ Miss Kim
Aug 7 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Literati is pleased to be an official bookselling partner as Zingerman’s Community of Businesses presents acclaimed food activist and James Beard-award winning Chef Sean Sherman for a select dinner and presentation. Tickets are available through Zingerman’s, here. Proceeds from every ticket purchased will directly benefit The Sioux Chef team as they continue to work to educate and make indigenous foods more accessible through its nonprofit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS).

On Wednesday, August 7, 2019, at Zingerman’s Miss Kim restaurant, in Ann Arbor, acclaimed indigenous food activist and winner of two James Beard awards, Chef Sean Sherman will share both history, wisdom and foods directly from The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen cookbook for a select, ticketed group of diners.

Rooted in his passionate quest to rekindle and restore stolen traditions and preserve them in the present day, Chef Sean will educate and enlighten our hearts and palates. Diners will be graced with new translations of seasonal dishes by Chef Sean made with ingredients locally sourced in collaboration with Miss Kim’s Chef Ji Hye. The spirit of Chef Sean’s book joyfully reinforces Chef Ji Hye’s own integration of Korean food roots and ancestral traditions in her Michigan kitchen and she joins our community’s warm welcome of Chef Sean Sherman. The result is a rare and intimate evening with one of the most inspired social, political and culinary change agents of our time who is blazing a timely trail to honor and value tradition’s sacred connection to the fundamental human experience of community, land and food. See what you’ll be having!

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