Calendar

Oct
3
Thu
Lisa Damour: Under Pressure: Confronting Stress and Anxiety in Children and Teenagers @ Campell Center, Greenhills School
Oct 3 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Psychologist and author Lisa Damour, Ph.D. will discuss the anxiety and stress experienced by young people, and how parents can best support them. Dr. Damour will share fresh insights from her years as the Adolescence columnist for the New York Times, and her two best selling books, Untangled and Under Pressure.

Come to connect and learn about:

  • The difference between healthy and unhealthy stress and anxiety
  • Research-based practical fixes to help young people manage naturally occurring tension, toxic stress, and anxiety
  • How to help our sons and daughters build strength and confidence from pre-school through high school

More About Lisa Damour
Lisa Damour, Ph.D. is a psychologist, author, teacher, speaker, and consultant. Dr. Damour writes the monthly Adolescence column for the New York Times and is a regular contributor at CBS News. She serves as a Senior Advisor to the Schubert Center for Child Studies at Case Western Reserve University and as the Executive Director of Laurel School’s Center for Research on Girls. Learn even more about Lisa Damour at www.drlisadamour.com.

Books Available Courtesy of Literati Bookstore
Lisa’s books, Untangled and Under Pressure, will be available for purchase at the event courtesy of Literati Bookstore, and are available to purchase in advance of the event at its store in downtown Ann Arbor.

About the Event
This adult event is free and open to the general public.

This event is part of the Michigan Theater’s Independent Thinker Series, presented by the independent schools of Ann Arbor, which include Ann Arbor Academy, Daycroft School, Emerson School, Greenhills School, Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor, and Summers-Knoll School.

Peter Ho Davis: Reading and Discussion @ Kreft Recital Hall, Concordia University
Oct 3 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Peter Ho Davies is the author of two novels, The Fortunes (winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Award and the Chautauqua Prize) and The Welsh Girl(long-listed for the Man Booker Prize), and two short story collections, The Ugliest House in the World (winner of the John Llewelyn Rhys Prize) and Equal Love (A New York Times Notable Book). His work has appeared in Harpers, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, The Guardian, and Washington Post among others, and has been widely anthologized, including selections for Prize Stories:The O. Henry Awards and Best American Short Stories. In 2003 Granta magazine named him among its Best of Young British Novelists. Davies is also a recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and is a winner of the PEN/Malamud Award. He is currently on the faculty of the Helen Zell MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Dwight Wilson: The Resistors @ Nicola's Books
Oct 3 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Dwight Wilson will join us to share The Resistors, stories of slavery and the brave black, white, Native American, and multiracial men and women who fought against it.

About the Book

Wilson’s (The Kidnapped, 2018, etc.) new volume of historical fiction weaves together 24 short stories to create a remarkable, multihued portrait of America.

These are the stories of slavery and the brave black, white, Native American, and multiracial men and women who fought against it. The narrative begins in 1795. Esi and Kofi, two Fante from West Africa, were kidnapped and sent to Virginia to be sold. Esi was Fante royalty; Kofi was known for his bravery in confronting a lion. They were 12 years old. Purchased by a farmer from Daufuskie Island, they remained on his plantation until his death in 1801. Esi and Kofi (who assumed the English name Kenneth) married at 16 and were sold to Nathan Prescott of Culpeper, Virginia, to work on his “Fruits of the Spirit” plantation. They had many children, some of whom were forcibly fathered by Prescott. Kenneth earned small amounts of money on the side as a cobbler and was determined to buy his children’s freedom. Then, help appeared from another source. Quaker abolitionists established an underground railroad and offered sanctuary to those who made their way into free territory. In 1827, Kenneth’s daughter Sarah and two of her brothers were rescued by an “African-Shawnee” named Caesar and brought to live with a Quaker family in Ohio. The stories, narrated in the strong and textured voice of Sarah, span the first half of the 19th century. Here, she poignantly describes her father: “I know that Daddy was always a double-sided man: a Fante warrior dressed in a slave’s rags; dignified while disgraced.” The stories are the product of the author’s imagination, informed by years of research and personal lineage. Wilson, himself a Quaker, identifies Sarah as a “direct ancestor.” Each stand-alone tale conveys a quick snapshot of resistance, whether through overt acts of rescue/escape or the quiet refusal to submit to degradation of the soul. The conversational prose captures the cadence and imagery of the period, including racist slurs, but without contrived dialect.

Memorable characters and unique historical details illuminate slavery’s complex legacy.

About the Author

Dwight L. Wilson is father to four sons and grandfather to two grandsons and two granddaughters.  He lives in Ann Arbor with his wife Diane, an attorney.

He spent 41 years as a school professional including serving as Headmaster and Dean as well as Assistant Chaplain at Oberlin College and Associate Dean at Marshall University. He is also a recorded Friends Minister who pastored Durham Maine Friends Meeting and is the only person of color to serve as General Secretary of Friends General Conference.

Currently he serves as Co-Director of the Washtenaw County Interfaith Round Table, helping to deepen the understanding and inter-congregation support of the myriad spiritual groups of Ann Arbor, Michigan and environs.

Among Friends, as a volunteer he has served on the national board of the American Friends Service Committee, as Clerk of Earlham School of Religion and as a trustee with Friends World College, Haverford College, Wilmington College, Medford Leas Retirement Center, Rancocas Friends School and Pendle Hill.  With non-profits he has been Chair of the Wayne State Medical School Anti-Prostate Cancer Study Group, Afri-Male Institute and Burlington County Boys and Girls Club as well as a trustee with the Burlington County YMCA. SafeHouse Womens Center and Student Advocacy Center.  He served seven years as Ann Arbor Human Rights Commission where for four years he chaired the Subcommittee on Police Oversight.

He has published historical fiction including The Kidnapped: A Collection of Stories, The Resistors: A Collection of Stories and six books in the series Esi Was My Mother.  His book Modern Psalms in Search of Peace and Justice is fed by his Quaker faith and a lifetime of social activism. His haiku and essays on Japanese Poetry have been published in periodicals spanning the globe.

In addition to writing historical novels and modern psalms he has published both religious and educational articles in a variety of magazines and been featured author in The Inclusive School.

Fiction at Literati: Aaron Hamburger: Nirvana Is Here @ Literati
Oct 3 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

We welcome award-winning author Aaron Hamburger as part of our ongoing Fiction at Literati series, in support of his latest novel Nirvana is Here. Book signing to follow. Free and open to the public.

About the book: When his ex-husband is accused of sexual harassment in the #metoo era, history professor Ari Silverman is forced to confront long-buried trauma from his childhood, where he and his high school crush bonded over the raw emotion of Kurt Cobain’s lyrics in the segregated suburbs of 1990s Detroit.

“A tender self-reckoning, Nirvana Is Here brings the past full circle. Hamburger deftly reveals how incidents recede–even if they leave their mark–to bring new hopes into focus.” –Foreword Reviews

“Deft characterization of a person who seeks to close the space between the past and present self.” –Lambda Literary Review

“Hamburger is tender and provocative in his examinations of sexual abuse, racial strife in ’90s Detroit, and the way that discovering Nirvana changes everything about Ari’s world. The complexities of this novel are deftly handled by Hamburger, whose sensitive and observant prose is a pure joy to read on every page.” –Electric Literature

Aaron Hamburger is the author of a story collection titled The View from Stalin’s Head (Random House), winner of the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His second book, the novel Faith for Beginners (Random House), was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. His writing has appeared in The New York TimesThe Washington PostThe Chicago TribuneO, the Oprah MagazineDetailsThe Village VoicePoets & WritersTin HouseOutMichigan Quarterly ReviewThe Forward and numerous other publications. In addition, he has also won fellowships from Yaddo, Djerassi, the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, and the Edward F. Albee Foundation as well as first prize in the Dornstein Contest for Young Jewish Writers. He has taught creative writing at Columbia University, the George Washington University, New York University, Brooklyn College, and the Stonecoast MFA Program. He currently resides in Washington, D.C.

Fierce Reads Tour, with Sara Faring, L.L. McKinney, Margaret Owen, Katy Rose Pool, in conversation with Lucy Schramm @ Nicola's Books
Oct 3 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

It’s coming for us! 2019 Fierce Reads Tour is headed our way October 3. This is your opportunity to meet four fabulous YA authors – Sara Faring, L.L. McKinney, Margaret Owen, and Katy Rose Pool. They will be on a panel hosted by Lucy Shramm from Ann Arbor District Library.

About the Books

The Tenth Girl Simmering in Patagonian myth, The Tenth Girl is a gothic psychological thriller with a haunting twist.

A Blade So Black The first time the Nightmares came, it nearly cost Alice her life. Now she’s trained to battle monstrous creatures in the dark dream realm known as Wonderland with magic weapons and hardcore fighting skills. Yet even warriors have a curfew.

The Merciful Crow One way or another, we always feed the crows. 

There Will Come a Darkness  Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows meets Kristin Cashore’s Graceling, with a dash of Winter is Coming, in this showstopping debut YA fantasy!

About the Authors

Sara Faring was born in Los Angeles, and is a multilingual Argentine-American fascinated by literary puzzles. After working in investment banking at J.P. Morgan, she worked at Penguin Random House. She holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in International Studies and from the Wharton School in Business. The Tenth Girl is her debut book.

L.L. McKinney is a writer, a poet, and an active member of the kidlit community. She’s an advocate for equality and inclusion in publishing, and the creator of the hashtag #WhatWoCWritersHear. She’s spent time in the slush by serving as a reader for agents and participating as a judge in various online writing contests. She’s also a gamer girl and an adamant Hei Hei stan. A Blade So Black is her debut novel.

Margaret Owen was born and raised at the end of the Oregon Trail, and now lives and writes in Seattle while negotiating a long-term hostage situation with her two monstrous cats. In her free time, she enjoys exploring ill-advised travel destinations and raising money for social justice nonprofits through her illustrations. She resides in Seattle, WA. You can find her on Twitter @what_eats_owls. Visit her at www.margaret-owen.com.

Katy Rose Pool was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. After graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in history, Katy spent a few years building websites by day and dreaming up prophecies by night. Currently, she resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she can be found eating breakfast sandwiches, rooting for the Golden State Warriors, and reading books that set her on fire. There Will Come a Darkness is her first novel.

About our Conversationalist

Lucy Schramm has worked at the Ann Arbor District Library for 6 years, where she currently creates and hosts programs for children, teens and adults. She sings and shares stories at story time and baby playgroups, and meets with school groups to help spread the word about all the library has to offer. She loves to promote the joy of reading and is a lifelong book nerd who especially enjoys middle grade, young adult, and adult fiction.

Oct
4
Fri
CREES Lecture: Ruta Sepetys: From the Soviet Gulag to Franco’s Spain: Historical Fiction’s Power for Global Dialogue @ Michigan Theater
Oct 4 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Fri, Oct 4, 5:30 PM 
CREES Distinguished Lecture and Film. 
“From the Soviet Gulag to Franco’s Spain: Historical Fiction’s Power for Global Dialogue.” Ruta Sepetys, author. Lecture followed at 7 PM by a screening of Ashes in the SnowMarius A. Markevicius, director (98 min., 2018), based on the novel Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys. Sponsor: CREES. Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty.

Sarah Miller: The Miracle and Tragedy of the Dionne Quintuplets @ Literati
Oct 4 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

We welcome author Sarah Miller in support of her nonfiction book for young readers, The Miracle & Tragedy of the Dionne Quintuplets. A book signing will follow the event. The event is free and open to the public. 

About the book: In this riveting, beyond-belief true story from the author of The Borden Murders,meet the five children who captivated the entire world. When the Dionne Quintuplets were born on May 28, 1934, weighing a grand total of just over 13 pounds, no one expected them to live so much as an hour. Overnight, Yvonne, Annette, Cécile, Émilie, and Marie Dionne mesmerized the globe, defying medical history with every breath they took. In an effort to protect them from hucksters and showmen, the Ontario government took custody of the five identical babies, sequestering them in a private, custom-built hospital across the road from their family–and then, in a stunning act of hypocrisy, proceeded to exploit them for the next nine years. The Dionne Quintuplets became a more popular attraction than Niagara Falls, ogled through one-way screens by sightseers as they splashed in their wading pool at the center of a tourist hotspot known as Quintland. Here, Sarah Miller reconstructs their unprecedented upbringing with fresh depth and subtlety, bringing to new light their resilience and the indelible bond of their unique sisterhood.

Sarah Miller is the author of the historical fiction novels Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller, which was called “an accomplished debut” in a starred review from Booklist and was named an ALA–ALSC Notable Children’s Book, and The Lost Crown, a novel hailed as “fascinating” in a starred review from Kirkus Reviews and named an ALA–YALSA Best Book for Young Adults

Webster Reading Series: Monica Rico and Nishanth Injam @ UMMA Auditorium
Oct 4 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

One MFA student of fiction and one of poetry, each introduced by a peer, will read their work. The Mark Webster Reading Series presents emerging writers in a warm and relaxed setting. We encourage you to bring your friends–a Webster reading makes for an enjoyable and enlightening Friday evening.

This week’s reading features Nishanth Injam and Monica Rico.

Nishanth Injam is a fiction writer from Telangana, India. He currently lives in Ann Arbor.

Monica Rico is a second generation Mexican-American from Saginaw, MI and a 2019 CantoMundo Fellow. She works for the Bear River Writers’ Conference.

 

Oct
6
Sun
Maureen Muldoon: Creativity, Storytelling, and Miracles of Cours
Oct 6 @ 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm

Join Maureen Muldoon, founder of Voice Box Stories and SpeakEasy Spiritual Community, in Ann Arbor for a powerful evening of creativity, community, and the healing power of story.

We will be sharing and workshopping stories in this safe and intimate community. Bring a story to share or come to just listen.

Maureen Muldoon is a powerful, entertaining and impactful speaker. She creates memorable talks and workshops that are packed with information and inspiration. Her refreshing humor and spot-on storytelling honed during her twenty years in TV and film makes her an audience favorite. She has delivered keynotes to audiences as large as seven thousand. Maureen is the author of three books, including her latest, Spiritual Vixen Guide to an Unapologetic Life. (available for purchase)

Maureen and her work has been featured in HBO, Fox TV, CBS, Parade, PopSugar, She Writes Press and many others. She is the founder of VoiceBox, a storytelling show with a twist that has been running monthly in the Chicago area for the past six years. She is the founder of SpeakEasy Spiritual Community and a regular contributor to ACIM Gather, Miracles LIVE 365, along with hosting her own podcast and Youtube channel.

Karin Risko: A History Lover’s Guide to Detroit @ AADL Downtown (Multipurpose Room)
Oct 6 @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Join author Karin Risko and photographer Rodney Arroyo as they share highlights of their book, A History Lover’s Guide to Detroitan intimate tour of the city that put the world on wheels. Discover an amazing history of innovation, philanthropy, social justice, and culture.

This event includes a signing with books for sale.

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