This event brings together Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget McCormack, legal scholar and practitioner Len Niehoff, and acclaimed actor John de Lancie to explore the work of the courts and the law; how the human impulse for narrative performance and drama informs the inner workings of the courtroom; and how the courtroom is represented on stage and screen.
Chief Justice Bridget McCormack joined the Michigan Supreme Court in January 2013, and became chief justice in January 2019. As the chief justice, McCormack has promoted statewide initiatives devoted to improving the courts’ service to the public, and in particular delivering on a promise that courts are independent, accessible, engaged with their communities, and efficient. Len Niehoff is a nationally prominent law practitioner, professor, and scholar in three fields: media law and the First Amendment; higher education law; and trial and appellate litigation. Niehoff is working on a book about the Salem witch trials. John de Lancie is best known for his role as “Q” on Star Trek: The Next Generation, however, his credits are numerous and include The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, The Fisher King, Breaking Bad, and The West Wing. He was recently in a national tour of the “Scopes Monkey Trial” with Ed Asner where he played Clarence Darrow, and is the first recipient of the Clarence Darrow Award. De Lancie is currently at work on a play about the 2005 Kitzmiller vs. Dover School District trial.
Presented in partnership with University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA). This event heralds Witness Lab, a project by Roman J. Witt Artist in Residence Courtney McClellan. This courtroom installation is activated from February 15 through May 17, 2020, in UMMA’s Stenn Gallery.
A diverse nation deserves diverse poetry, Celebrate National Poetry Month with leading poets of color from Ann Arbor’s vibrant poetry scene as they explore pressing themes of identity, heritage, culture, race, resistance, and more. This event will be curated by local writer Frances Kai-Hwa Wang.
- Jasmine An comes from the Midwest. Her chapbook, Naming the No-Name Woman, won the 2015 Two Sylvias Press Chapbook Prize. Her work can be found or is forthcoming in HEArt, Stirring: A Literary Collection, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, Nat. Brut and Waxwing, among others. Currently, she is pursuing a PhD in English and Women’s Studies at the University of Michigan.
- Aldo Leopoldo Pando Girard is the current Youth Poet Laureate of Ann Arbor. Aldo believes firmly in bringing people together and making people feel seen through poetry, and hopes to do so in his own poetry. He is a recent graduate of Pioneer high school, former Ann Arbor Youth Slam Team member, and a freshman at the University of Michigan, studying Vocal Performance and Engineering.
- Marlin M. Jenkins was born and raised in Detroit. He teaches in the English Department Writing Program at University of Michigan and in the Literary Arts Program at the Neutral Zone.
- Leslie McGraw is the creative inspiration behind the Bookbound Open Mic & Share Poetry Series and the Life By Poetry online community. Her debut poetry collection, Emergencies of the Heart, was published in 2014; and her essay, “Roses Come in Black, Too,” was published in the As/Us Women of the World Journal. You can follow her on Twitter @LifebyPoetry.
- Saleem Peeradina is the internationally esteemed author of several books of poetry, memoir, and essays. He is the editor of Contemporary Indian Poetry in English, one of the earliest and most widely used texts in South Asian literature courses. He has served as writer-in-residence from Chelsea District Library to the American College in Madurai, India and is Professor Emeritus at Siena Heights University.
- Frances Kai-Hwa Wang is a journalist, essayist, speaker, educator, and poet focused on issues of diversity, race, culture, and the arts. Her poetry has appeared in Cha Asian Literary Journal, Kartika Review, and the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center. She teaches Asian/Pacific Islander American studies at the University of Michigan.
- Cozine A. Welch, Jr. is a formerly incarcerated published poet and writer. A staff member of the University of Michigan’s Prisoner Creative Arts Project (PCAP), he now teaches at the University and is managing editor of the Michigan Review of Prisoner Creative Writing literary journal.
Best selling author Tahereh Mafi comes to AADL to discuss Defy Me, her latest book in the Shatter Me series of dystopian adventure young adult fiction. She is joined in conversation with YA author Caleb Roehrig.
Tahereh Mafi is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of A Very Large Expanse of Sea, the Shatter Me series, Furthermore, and Whichwood. She can usually be found overcaffeinated and stuck in a book. You can find her online just about anywhere @TaherehMafi or on her website, www.taherehbooks.com.
Caleb Roehrig is the author of Death Prefers Blondes, White Rabbit and Last Seen Leaving, which was called one of the Best YA Novels of 2016 by Buzzfeed.com. Caleb lives with his husband in Chicago.
This event includes a book signing and books will be on sale, courtesy of Literati Bookstore.
Literati is excited to welcome the Creative Writing Sub-concentration seniors in the English Department at the University of Michigan for a night of poetry and prose readings!
Each year the Creative Writing Sub-concentration selects no more than 14 students who spend their senior year working with faculty to complete a creative thesis of poetry or fiction. These collections, the same size as many MFA theses, are first attempts to create book-length manuscripts, and to prepare the writers for their work in the future.
Readers include…
Laura Dzubay is a writer specializing in short fiction, long fiction, and articles about all the music she loves. She is mostly from Indiana and has published work in Blue Earth Review, Bad Pony, Belle Ombre, and others, and has won three Hopwood Awards. She enjoys UltimateGuitar.com and pretending it’s fall year-round.
Sophia Christos is a senior studying English, creative writing, and entrepreneurship. She’s one of the founders of EMPOWER, an online young women’s magazine that promotes positivity and inspiration. Sophia’s also a development intern at the Alzheimer’s Association, where she is working to find the first survivor of Alzheimer’s. In her spare time, Sophia loves to scuba dive, ski, and travel the world.
Nitya Gupta is a senior from the Chicago suburbs studying English with a sub-concentration in creative writing and a minor in the environment. She’s a Daily Arts Writer for The Michigan Daily as well as an Editorial Assistant at Michigan News. When she’s not reading or writing, she enjoys practicing and teaching yoga.
Ana Lucena is a senior studying English with creative writing and pre-law at the University of Michigan. Her favorite themes are psychological horror and social justice. Her writing is deeply inspired by film and comics as well. If her writing career doesn’t take off, she plans to go to law school in the hopes of furthering her research skills and her understanding of society to the benefit of her writing.
Cailean Robinson is a writer, reader, introvert, and feminist. Her work has appeared in the 2016 Cafe Shapiro Anthology. If Cailean could do anything for a day, she would people-watch with Libba Bray and Jane Austen, and if she could go anywhere for a month, she would visit New Zealand. Cailean enjoys acting and listening to musicals, and her plans after graduating (please stop asking) are to live, to travel, and to finish her book. She is from Ann Arbor, MI and Kennesaw, GA.
Matthew Solway is a poet at the University of Michigan. He has worked in various medical research labs studying diabetic complications and is committed to understanding the natural world through poetry and science with a specific focus on improving the lives of those who cannot help themselves. This fall, he will continue his studies Wayne State School of Medicine.
Josie Tolin is just glad to be here. She’s from Chesterton, Indiana—a town so unremarkable it’s almost remarkable. Her short fiction has appeared in The Google Drive Folder (a premier publication co-founded by Nitya Gupta, Kate Velguth, and Ellie Zak) as well as Emails to Her Friends (subject line: “can u tell me if this sux, lol”).
Literati is pleased to be partnering with the Ann Arbor Downtown Library to host graphic novelist Box Brown who will be discussing his new book Cannabis: The Legalization of Weed in America.
About Cannabis:
Mexico, 1519 CE.
During the Spanish conquests Cortés introduced hemp farming as part of his violent colonial campaign. In secret, locals began cultivating the plant for consumption. It eventually made its way to the United States through the immigrant labor force where it was shared with black laborers. It doesn’t take long for American lawmakers to decry cannabis as the vice of “inferior races.”
Enter an era of propaganda designed to feed a moral panic about the dangers of a plant that had been used by humanity for thousands of years. Cannabis was given a schedule I classification, which it shared with drugs like heroin. This opened the door for a so-called “war on drugs” that disproportionately targeted young black men, leaving hundreds of thousands in prison, many for minor infractions. With its roots in “reefer madness” and misleading studies into the effects of cannabis, America’s complicated and racialized relationship with marijuana continues to this day.
Author Box Brown delves deep into this troubling history and offers a rich, entertaining, and thoroughly researched graphic essay on the legacy of cannabis legislation in America.
Box Brown is an Ignatz Award–winning cartoonist, illustrator, and comic publisher from Philadelphia. His books include the New York Times–bestselling Andre the Giant: Life and Legend and Tetris. Box Brown’s independent comics publishing house, Retrofit Comics, was launched in 2011.
Like the original Blue Beard, Heinrich Blaubart brings death to women he meets. Unlike the original Blue Beard, though, he doesn’t seek to do so; in fact, his fear of relationships makes him try to avoid women. Presented in German by students enrolled in RCHUMS 334: From the Page to the Stage. Surtitles will make it possible for even non-German speakers to follow the action on stage. April 6, 8pm-10pm and April 7, 2pm-4pm, Keene Theater. Non-perishable food items or donation at the door.
By Euripides, in a new translation by Jaclyn Dudek.
The God Dionysus and his followers, the Bacchae, take revenge on the conservative and militaristic ruler of Thebes.
This is the end of term performance of RC Hums 481, the Play Production Seminar course, directed by Kate Mendeloff, and staged environmentally in the Conservatory space.
Also Sunday at 7:30 pm.
Since its creation in 1999, Mock Rock seeks to invest in a community that relentlessly supports Michigan Athletics while showcasing student-athlete talents. U of M Athletics teams put on skits, songs, and other merriment for an audience and panel of judges. Tickets available at the title link. April 7, doors open at 4pm, show starts at 4:30pm, Cliff Keen Arena.
