Mar. 22: Readings by Jennifer Clark, a Kalamazoo poet who has a forthcoming 2nd collection Johnny Appleseed: The Slice and Times of John Chapman, and InsideOut Literary Arts Project (Detroit) interim director and Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Detroit project coordinator Alise Alousi, whose work is featured in Inclined to Speak: An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Poetry. Followed by a poetry and short fiction open mike.
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7-9 p.m., Crazy Wisdom, 114 S. Main. Free. 665-2757
2-4 p.m., Ann Arbor District Library Freespace (3rd floor), 343 S. Fifth Ave. Free. 971-5763.
Written and directed by RC Creative Writing student Clare Higgins.
AUDREY KELLAN is a brash, well-spoken but socially clueless young woman in her early twenties who has recently had to leave her university due to a dangerous “incident”. She moves back in with her mother while attending some court-mandated therapy before she is allowed back at school. Meanwhile, she finds a job at a local comic shop, befriends slacker and secret beat poet, REN, and reluctantly makes a friend or two at therapy, as well. Her tense relationship with her mother starts to lift as Audrey discovers new romance in her therapy group: a young man named ADAM who, though they have barely spoken, is bound to be her soul-mate. Meanwhile, CALEB, another young man in the group who is dealing with problems of his own tries to get closer to Audrey, to her constant rebuff, eventually earning her friendship. As Audrey becomes more connected in her hometown, she believes she is making the kind of progress others want from her. But when she is deemed still unfit to return to school, and her therapist warns her she might be making the same mistakes she made leading up to “the incident”, Audrey leans into disaster. Will she find her way out of her own chaos, or will she remain nothing but Loveless in Lakewood?
Written and directed by RC Creative Writing student Clare Higgins.
AUDREY KELLAN is a brash, well-spoken but socially clueless young woman in her early twenties who has recently had to leave her university due to a dangerous “incident”. She moves back in with her mother while attending some court-mandated therapy before she is allowed back at school. Meanwhile, she finds a job at a local comic shop, befriends slacker and secret beat poet, REN, and reluctantly makes a friend or two at therapy, as well. Her tense relationship with her mother starts to lift as Audrey discovers new romance in her therapy group: a young man named ADAM who, though they have barely spoken, is bound to be her soul-mate. Meanwhile, CALEB, another young man in the group who is dealing with problems of his own tries to get closer to Audrey, to her constant rebuff, eventually earning her friendship. As Audrey becomes more connected in her hometown, she believes she is making the kind of progress others want from her. But when she is deemed still unfit to return to school, and her therapist warns her she might be making the same mistakes she made leading up to “the incident”, Audrey leans into disaster. Will she find her way out of her own chaos, or will she remain nothing but Loveless in Lakewood?
Literati is pleased to welcome Margot Singer in support of her new novel, Underground Fugue. Margot will be joined in conversation by UM professor and author Eileen Pollack.
Set against the backdrop of the London tube bombings in 2005, Underground Fugue interweaves the stories of four characters who are dislocated by shock waves of personal loss, political violence, and, ultimately, betrayal. It’s April and Esther has left New York for London, partly to escape her buckling marriage, and partly to care for her dying mother; Lonia, Esther’s mother, is haunted by memories of fleeing Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II; Javad, their next-door neighbor and an Iranian neuroscientist, struggles to connect with his college-aged son; and Amir, Javad’s son, is seeking both identity and escape in his illicit exploration of the city’s forbidden spaces. As Esther settles into life in London, a friendship develops among them. But when terrorists attack the London transit system in July, someone goes missing, and the chaos that follows both fractures the possibilities for the future, and reveals the deep fault lines of the past. With nuanced clarity and breathtaking grandeur, Margot Singer’s Underground Fugue is an elegant, suspenseful, and deeply powerful debut.
All invited to read and discuss their poetry or short stories. Bring about 6 copies of your work to share. Hosted by local poets and former college English teachers Joe Kelty and Ed Morin.
7-9 p.m., Crazy Wisdom, 114 S. Main. Free. 665-2757
Join ÆPEX Contemporary Performance and celebrated guest artists Megan Ihnen (mezzo-soprano) and Michael Hall (viola) for an intimate concert featuring the world premiere of Ypsilanti-based composer Garrett Schumann’s “Typewriter Songs.” This new work sets to music the profound and bizarre musings patrons of Literati have written on the store’s beloved typewriter over the years, and will be the centerpiece of an evening-long program of recently composed songs for voice and viola.
2-4 p.m., Ann Arbor District Library Freespace (3rd floor), 343 S. Fifth Ave. Free. 971-5763.
Reading by Oakland University English professor John Hazard, a widely published poet whose most recent work is the Naming a Stranger, a collection of poems about ordinary people that, according to poet Faith Shearin, offers a world in which both the familiar and the unknown are delicately examined and named. Followed by a poetry and short fiction open mike. .
7-9 p.m., Crazy Wisdom, 114 S. Main. Free. 665-2757
All invited to read and discuss their poetry or short stories. Bring about 6 copies of your work to share. Hosted by local poets and former college English teachers Joe Kelty and Ed Morin.
7-9 p.m., Crazy Wisdom, 114 S. Main. Free. 665-2757