Calendar

Sep
18
Wed
Polly Rosenwaike: Look How Happy I’m Making You, and Cody Walker: The Trumpiad, in conversation @ Nicola's Books
Sep 18 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Ann Arbor Natives Polly Rosenwaike and Cody Walker are joining us in conversation around their most recent works. Polly will be sharing her beautifully written series of stories about… conception and Cody, he will share his brilliantly written comedic poetry.

Author: Polly Rosenwaike
Title: Look How Happy I’m Making You

A candid, ultimately buoyant debut story collection about the realities of the “baby years,” whether you’re having one or not.

The women in Polly Rosenwaike’s Look How Happy I’m Making You want to be mothers, or aren’t sure they want to be mothers, or—having recently given birth—are overwhelmed by what they’ve wrought. Sharp and unsettling, wry and moving in its portrayal of love, friendship, and family, this collection expands the conversation about some of women’s most intimate experiences.

Author: Cody Walker
Title: The Trumpiad

The new U.S. president doesn’t read books, but for everyone else, there’s Cody Walker’s The Trumpiad, a blistering and hilarious take on America’s political collapse. Key Difference: I wouldn’t lump / Trump / in with Hitler and Mussolini. / Trump’s hands are littler. (They’re teeny.) The Trumpiad will be published on April 29th 2017, which, if no one manages to stop him, will mark Trump’s 100th day in office.

About the Authors

Polly Rosenwaike’s story collection, Look How Happy I’m Making You, was a featured book pick in O MagazineMs.People, and New York Magazine. Her stories, reviews, and essays have been published in The O. Henry Prize StoriesGlimmer TrainNew England ReviewThe Cut, the New York Times Book Review, the San Francisco ChronicleLit Hub, and The Millions. She is the fiction editor of the Michigan Quarterly Review.

Cody Walker directs the Creative Writing Sub-concentration at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He’s the author of two full-length poetry collections—The Self-Styled No-Child and Shuffle and Breakdown—and a chapbook, The Trumpiad. (The chapbook doubles as a fundraiser for the ACLU.) His work appears in The New York Times MagazineSlate, and The Best American Poetry. He’s the co-director of the Bear River Writers’ Conference and the co-editor of Alive at the Center: Contemporary Poems from the Pacific Northwest.

Poetry Salon: One Pause Poetry @ Argus Farm Stop
Sep 18 @ 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm

ONE PAUSE POETRY SALON is (literally) a greenhouse for poetry and poets, nurturing an appreciation for written art in all languages and encouraging experiments in creative writing.

We meet every Weds in the greenhouse at Argus Farm Stop on Liberty St. The poems we read each time are unified by form (haiku, sonnet, spoken word), poet, time / place (Tang Dynasty, English Romanticism, New York in the 70s) or theme / mood (springtime, poems with cats, protest poems). We discuss the poems and play writing games together, with time for snacks and socializing in between.

Members are encouraged to share their own poems or poems they like – they may or may not relate to the theme of the evening. This is not primarily a workshop – we may hold special workshop nights, but mostly we listen to and talk about poems for the sake of inspiring new writing.

Whether you are a published poet or encountering poetry for the first time, we invite you to join us!

$5 suggested donation for food, drinks and printing costs.

8-10 p.m., Argus Farm Stop greenhouse, 325 W. Liberty. $5 suggested donation. onepausepoetry.org, 707-1284.

 

 

 

Sep
19
Thu
Zell Visiting Writers Series: Wayetu Moore: Roundtable @ Hopwood Room, 1176 Angell Hall
Sep 19 @ 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm

(This description is for the talk at 5:30 pm)

Wayétu Moore’s debut novel She Would Be King reimagines the dramatic story of Liberia’s early years. It was named a best book of 2018 by Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Entertainment Weekly & BuzzFeed.

Moore is the founder of One Moore Book, a non-profit organization that creates and distributes culturally relevant books for underrepresented readers. Her first bookstore opened in Monrovia, Liberia in 2015. Her writing can be found in The Paris Review, Frieze Magazine, Guernica, The Atlantic Magazine and other publications. She has been featured in The Economist Magazine, NPR, NBC, BET and ABC, among others, for her work in advocacy for diversity in children’s literature.

She is a graduate of Howard University, University of Southern California and Columbia University. Moore is a founding faculty member of Randolph College MFA program and a Distinguished Visiting Writer at Syracuse University.

This event is free and open to the public.

The Zell Visiting Writers Series brings outstanding writers to campus each semester. The Series is made possible through a generous gift from U-M alumna Helen Zell (BA ’64, LLDHon ’13). For more information, please visit the Zell Visiting Writers Program webpage: https://lsa.umich.edu/writers

For any questions about the event or to share accommodation needs, please email asbates@umich.edu– we are eager to help ensure that this event is inclusive to you. The building, event space, and restrooms are wheelchair accessible. A lactation room (Angell Hall #5209), reflection room (Haven Hall #1506), and gender-inclusive restroom (Angell Hall 5th floor) are available on site. ASL interpreters and CART services are available upon request; please email asbates@umich.edu at least two weeks prior to the event.

Mark Stryker: Jazz From Detroit @ AADL Downtown
Sep 19 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

From Motown to soul and rock to techno, Detroit’s contributions to American musical culture have been long celebrated. Now, Mark Stryker’s new book, Jazz From Detroit, refocuses attention on the city’s influential role as one of the most prolific breeding grounds for innovative jazz musicians and front-rank stylists, from Elvin Jones and Ron Carter to Geri Allen and Regina Carter.

Stryker will give a talk and we’ll have a signing (books will be for sale), then we can head over to Blue LLama on Main Street in Ann Arbor for a FREE set of Detroit jazz by Motor City mainstay Marion Hayden whose band is performing there at 8:30 pm as part of the A2 Jazz Fest.

Jonathan Safran Foer in Conversation @ Rackham Auditorium
Sep 19 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Please register your attendance here.

The University of Michigan School for Environtment, Sustainbale Food Systems Initiative and Literati Bookstore are thrilled to welcome Jonathan Safran Foer to Rackham Auditorium on the campus of the University of Michigan in support of his landmark book We are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast.

Join New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Safran Foer (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) to learn how saving the planet begins on our breakfast plates. With a reading and discussion of his new book, We are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast, Safran Foer will highlight small behavioral changes that could help move the needle on climate change.

Literati Bookstore will be on-hand to sell copies of the book.

Debbie Gonzales: Girls With Guts: The Road to Breaking Barriers and Bashing Records @ Saline District Library
Sep 19 @ 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Meet Saline author Debbie Gonzales as she presents her new book, Girls with Guts: The Road to Breaking Barriers and Bashing Recordsan engaging picture book about women in sports through the ages. Hear about the background to writing this book. Recommended for 1st graders through adults. Registration requested.

Sep
22
Sun
Ann Arbor Storytellers Guild @ AADL Downtown (3rd floor, Freespace)
Sep 22 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

All invited to listen to guild members swap stories or bring their own to tell, at the AASG monthly meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

Theatre Nova: Frederick Glaysher’s The Parliament of Poets @ Theatre Nova
Sep 22 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Celebrating our common humanity uniting us all.

On September 22, 29, and October 6, 7:00 pm, the theatre company, Apollo’s Troupe, will stage the theatre adaptation of the critically-acclaimed epic poem, The Parliament of Poets, written by Michigan poet Frederick Glaysher and published in 2012 by Earthrise Press. Fresh from performing in May at Wayne State University’s Studio Theatre, this stage adaptation of Mr. Glaysher’s epic work in verse keeps intact much of the beautiful poetry that exemplifies this spectacular book while seeking to reach a new audience with its message of how poetry and artistry from all times and cultures can elevate the world and redefine our lives for the better.

Glaysher studied with Robert Hayden during the last year of his life, worked for him as a secretary, and editing his Collected Prose for the University of Michigan Press and his Collected Poems for Liveright. Glaysher holds two degrees from U of M, the latter a Master’s in English. When it came time for writing his epic poem, Glaysher knew he had to include Robert Hayden to try to honor his former teacher, mentor, and friend.

Taking place on the moon at the Apollo 11 landing site, a lone poet finds himself charged by Don Quixote and “The Parliament of Poets” to spread a new message of beauty, unity, and love to all nations of our fractured modern world. He is then sent to meet with the great poets, myths, and characters from history, East and West, to be mentored on his quest towards enlightenment and understanding.

The cast is comprised of the poet himself, as a persona, The Poet of the Moon, as well as five talented actors playing multiple roles including Don Quixote, Merlin the Magician, Jane Austen, Ann Arbor Poet Robert Hayden, Leo Tolstoy, the Biblical prophet-poet Job, the great Chinese poet Du Fu, the African Queen Sogolon, and many more. These actors are Dennis Kleinsmith as Don Quixote and Tolstoy (Theatre Nova, JET, Shakespeare in Detroit, etc.), Krystle Dellihue as Robert Hayden and Queen Sogolon from the Mali epic Sundiata (Shakespeare In Detroit, Matrix Theatre, Redbud, PTD), Alexander Sloan, also as Robert Hayden and Jorge Luis Borges (Open Book, Water Works, Hope College), Marley Boone, as the Fairy Queen and the Chinese Tang poet Du Fu (Williamston, St. Dunstan’s, several Philadelphia theatres), Patrick Grimes, as the African Flying Tortoise Mbeku, Merlin, Virgil, and William Blake (Redbud, Morris, Young People’s Theatre). The stage manager is Briana O’Neal, the new resident stage manager at Theatre Nova (Eastern MSU, Ann Arbor Civic Theatre).

In the canto with Robert Hayden, he invokes the passage from Stephen Vincent Benet’s John Brown’s Body about one day there would be an American black poet who would sing for his people. Hayden then calls forth the fairies and magical beings from around the world, throughout time, to carry him and his “charge,” the Poet of the Moon, heavenward to the Apollo 11 landing site.

Based on staging by Jeff Thomakos, of the Michigan Michael Chekhov Studio, the show is a unique blend of poetry reading, protest play, and performance art with a powerful message of peace, love, and humanity on the tiny, blue marble floating in space that we all share together.

“I am very honored to try to bring this critically-acclaimed work, from one of Michigan’s most talented poets to life. I think it will be a unique and moving experience,” says Mr. Thomakos.

The show will be a Guest Production at Theatre Nova, 410 West Huron Street. Performances will take place 7:00 – 9:00 pm on Sunday evenings September 22, 29, and October 6. Tickets are at the door and online under Guest Productions,  https://www.theatrenova.org/guest-productions  $22 general, $15 students. Go to TheatreNova.org or EarthrisePress.Net for more information. Or call 248-453-4220. The Parliament of Poets  can be purchased at Crazy Wisdom Bookstore.

Sep
23
Mon
Q and A with Editor Jill Bialosky @ Angell Hall, Room 4058
Sep 23 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Jill Bialosky is an Executive Editor and Vice President at W. W. Norton & Company. She edits fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Some titles she has edited include The Burning Girl by Claire Messud, History of Love by Nicole Krauss, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn, The Booker short list Madeliene Thien’s Do not Say We Have Nothing, and Neel Mukerhjee’s Booker short list novel, The Lives of Others, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin( finalist for the Pulitzer and National Book awards), Family Life by Akhil Sharma, one of the ten best books in the New York Times Book Review. Other fiction authors are Molly Antopol, Kirsten Valdez Quade, Manil Suri, Rose Tremain, Mark Slouka, Bonnie Jo Campbell, John Dufresne, and Lan Samantha Chang. She has edited all of Mary Roach’s bestselling books including Stiff and most recently, Grunt. Some of the poets she has worked with include Joy Harjo, Poet Laureate, 2019 Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich (recipient of the National Medal of Honor from the National Book Award), Ai, (winner of the National Book Award,) BH Fairchild, (winner of the National Book Critics Circle award), Stanley Plumly, (winner of the National Book Critics Circle award), Philip Schultz (Pulitzer Prize winner), Eavan Boland, Joy Harjo, Alice Oswald, Mark Doty, Li-Young Lee, Kim Addonizio, A. Van Jordan, Kimiko Hahn, Alice Fulton, Marie Howe, David Baker, Dorianne Laux, Gerald Stern, Robert Bly, Matthew Dickman, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Cate Marvin. Tina Chang.

Emerging Writers: Open House @ AADL Westgate, West Side Room
Sep 23 @ 7:00 pm – 8:45 pm

Come with questions, a work in progress, or an empty notebook. All writers are welcome in this casual, supportive environment. Authors Bethany Neal and Alex Kourvo will be on hand to answer questions and give encouragement. Bethany and Alex will also provide private, one-on-one critiques if you choose to have them read your work. Sharing your writing with other attendees is not required and is completely voluntary.

This is an excellent opportunity to meet your fellow Ann Arbor writers as well as get feedback from published authors. This is a monthly meet-up that welcomes all writers to ask questions, connect with other writers, or simply have a dedicated time and place to work on their projects. Do you have a completed manuscript? Consider submitting it to the library’s new imprint, Fifth Avenue Press.

 

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