Monthly 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.
2016 topics:
May 17: “Escape.”
June 21: “Fathers.”
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7:30-9 p.m. (doors open and sign-up begins at 6 p.m.), The Circus, 210 S. First. $10. 764-5118.
Jennifer Burd has published lyric poetry and haiku in a variety of print and online journals. She is the author of a book of poems, Body and Echo, and a book of creative nonfiction, Daily Bread: A Portrait of Homeless Men & Women of Lenawee County, Michigan. She has co-written (with Laszlo Slomovits) a children’s play based on Patricia Polacco’s picture book I Can Hear the Sun, which was produced in 2015 by Ann Arbor’s Wild Swan Theater. Jennifer received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Washington, and she teaches online courses through the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. She works as an editor and writer for HighScope Educational Research Foundation in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Laszlo Slomovits is one of the twin brothers in Ann Arbor’s nationally-known children’s folk music duo, Gemini (GeminiChildrensMusic.com). A fine singer and multi-instrumentalist, Laszlo has given concerts throughout the U.S. and a number of his award-winning songs are featured in songbooks music teachers use throughout the country. In addition to his music for children, Laszlo has set to music the work of many poets. His recordings of these song-settings include five CDs of the poetry of ancient Sufi mystics, Rumi and Hafiz as well as “White Picture” by the Holocaust-era Czech poet Jiri Orten and “Cry of Freedom,” the poetry of contemporary American poet Linda Nemec Foster.
Monthly 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.
2016 topics:
June 21: “Fathers.”
.
7:30-9 p.m. (doors open and sign-up begins at 6 p.m.), The Circus, 210 S. First. $10. 764-5118.
Crazy Wisdom Book and Performance Event — Come join the co-authors Greg Jobin-Leeds, Dey Hernández, Jorge Diaz and movement leaders for a multi-media hour of art, theatre and lively conversation. Longtime social activist Greg Jobin-Leeds joins forces with AgitArte-a collective of innovative artists and organizers-to capture the stories, philosophies, tactics, and art of six of today’s most pressing movements: immigrant rights, the LGBTQ movement, the fight for quality public education, the prison justice movement, the struggle for economic power, and the environmental movement.
Recently published by The New Press, WHEN WE FIGHT was highly praised by Noam Chomsky, Amy Goodman and Thom Hartmann.
June 16-18. The first of 3 book crawls (see 17 Friday & 18 Saturday kicks off at Cardamom restaurant (1739 Plymouth, Courtyard Shops) with a reading by local poetDawn Richberg. 7 p.m. (Bookbound, Courtyard Shops): Readings by local poetsShutta Crum and Scott Beal. 8 p.m. (location TBA): Readings by local poet and storyteller Charlotte Young Bowens and Michigan writer Monica Rico. The festival also includes a street fair on Saturday.
6-9 p.m., various locations. Free. info@aabookfestival.org.
The 2nd of 3 book crawls (see June 16 & 18) begins at the Ypsilanti District Library (229 W. Michigan Ave.) with storytelling by LaRon Williams (3 p.m.), a talk on ethnic and gender diversity in superheroes by comic ebook creator Jazmin Truesdale(4 p.m.), kids activities, a bookmobile, and more. 5 p.m. (Black Stone Bookstore & Cultural Center, 214 W. Michigan Ave.): Reading by local novelist Tiya Miles. 6 p.m. (Beezy’s Café, 20 N. Washington, Ypsilanti): Readings TBA. 7 p.m. (Chin-Azzaro Gallery, 9 S. Washington): Readings by Tennessee- and Michigan-based memoirist Deedra Climer and local novelist Heather Neff. 8 p.m. (Ypsi Alehouse, 124 Pearl St.):Readings by local memoirist R.J. Fox and Virginia-based mystery writer Tj O’Connor.
3-9 p.m., various Ypsilanti locations. Free admission. info@aabookfestival.org.
Sale of a wide variety of books, plus readings and spoken word performances, a drum circle (12:30-2 p.m.), balloon artists (2:30-4:30 p.m.), and more. Food available. The festival also includes 3 book crawls (see listings on June 16 & 17 and below).
Noon-5 p.m., Washington between 4th & 5th aves. Free admission.info@aabookfestival.org.
Monthly 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.), The Circus, 210 S. First. $10. 764-5118.
