Readers’ Bios – Session #13 (May 29, 2013)

15/05/13

Join us on Wednesday, May 29, 2013, from 7-8 PM, and catch the following talented folks reading:

Robert Fanning is the author of two full-length poetry collections, American Prophet (Marick Press) and The Seed Thieves (Marick Press) and a chapbook, Old Bright Wheel (Ledge Press Poetry Award). His poems have appeared in Poetry, Ploughshares, Shenandoah, The Atlanta Review, and other journals. An Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Central Michigan University, Fanning’s writing awards include a Creative Artist Grant from ArtServe Michigan, the Inkwell Poetry Award, and the Foley Poetry Award. He lives in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan with his wife, sculptor Denise Whitebread Fanning, and their two children. To read more of his work, visit www.robertfanning.wordpress.com.

Zack Ravas was born screaming in a Downriver hospital but has spent the better part of his life residing in the suburbs of Detroit. A graduate of Eastern Michigan University, he holds a degree in both Creative Writing and Film Studies, which he puts to good use by writing unpublishable stories and watching way too many classic Hollywood movies. He has also worked for an internet radio station specializing in shoegaze and dream pop music, as well as a website dedicated to Asian cinema. He is a future MFA candidate at California College of the Arts in San Francisco.

Karrie Waarala‘s work has appeared in journals such as Iron Horse Literary Review, PANK, The Collagist, Vinyl, and Southern Indiana Review. She is a poetry editor at the museum of americana and holds an MFA from the Stonecoast Program at University of Southern Maine. A multiple Pushcart nominee, Karrie has also received critical acclaim for LONG GONE: A Poetry Sideshow, a one-woman show based on her collection of circus poems. She really wishes she could tame tigers and swallow swords.

Readers’ Bios – Session #12 (April 24, 2013)

12/04/13

Join us on Wednesday, April 24th, 2013, from 7-8 PM, and catch the following talented folks reading:

Joy Gaines-Friedler teaches creative writing and advanced poetry workshops for non-profits in and around Detroit. For twenty years, a photographer in Detroit, she is now a writer-in-residence for InsideOut Literary Arts Project which places writers who can teach into Detroit Public Schools and is a teacher for Springfed Arts Literary Arts Program. Joy also works with Common Ground in Oakland County where she does writing workshops with parents and family members of victims of violent crimes and workshops with young adults “at risk.” Her work with this population was sparked by her own victimization when her friend Linda was killed. Joy is also known as a poet that advocates on behalf of AIDS victims as her best friend Jim died from AIDS. Joy’s poetry is widely published in journals such as RATTLE, Margie, The New York Quarterly, and many others.

Barry Graham is the author of four collections of fiction, including his latest This Isn’t Who We Are. Look for him on line at barrygfunk.blogspot.com.

Peter Schwartz is the author of three collections of poetry, including his latest Old Men, Girls, and Monsters. Look for him online at sitrahahra.com.

Readers’ Bios – Session #11 (March 27, 2013)

04/03/13

We’re thrilled to start Wednesday Night Sessions back up after a winter hiatus with an exciting first session on Wednesday, March 27th, 2013 from 7-8 PM. Join us if you can!

Caitlin Horrocks is author of the story collection This Is Not Your City, a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice and a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. Her stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Best American Short Stories 2011, The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories 2009, The Paris Review, Tin House, and elsewhere. She is the fiction editor of The Kenyon Review. Originally from Ann Arbor, she currently lives in Grand Rapids.

W. Todd Kaneko writes poetry, fiction and non-fiction. He has received fellowships from Kundiman and The Kenyon Review Writers Workshop and is an Associate Editor for both Hayden’s Ferry Review and DMQ Review. His work has recently appeared in Bellingham Review, Los Angeles Review, Southeast Review, NANO Fiction, The Collagist and elsewhere. He teaches at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Visit him at www.toddkaneko.com.

Robert James Russell is a Pushcart Prize nominated author whose work has appeared in Joyland, The Collagist, Thunderclap! Magazine, LITSNACK, and The Legendary, among others. His first novel, Sea of Trees, was published in 2012 by Winter Goose Publishing. He is the co-founding author of the literary journal Midwestern Gothic. Find him online at robertjamesrussell.com.

Readers’ Bios – Session #10 (November 28, 2012)

20/11/12

Join us for a holiday edition of WNS, our final reading of the fall, on Wednesday, November 28th, from 7-8 PM. It promises to be a great evening with the following writers:

Steven Gillis is the author of Walter Falls, The Weight of Nothing, Giraffes, Temporary People, and The Consequence of Skating. His stories, articles, and book reviews have appeared in over four dozen journals, and his books have been finalists for the Independent Publishers Book of the Year Award and the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year among others. A three-year member of the Ann Arbor Book Festival Board of Directors, and a finalist for the 2007 Ann Arbor News Citizen of the Year, Steve also founded 826michigan and is the co-founder of Dzanc Books. Steve taught writing at Eastern Michigan University for three years.

Horam Kim is a writer and filmmaker who grew up in the middle of the sprawling highways of New Jersey. He received his MFA in fiction from Brooklyn College. His work has appeared in The Vestal Review, Small Spiral Notebook, and Dance Films Kino. He recently wrote and directed the feature film I Love You, Apple, I Love You, Orange.

Mary Minock is a long-time Detroit poet, with recent poems in The MacGuffin, Mid-America, MARGIE, Patterson Literary Review, and Driftwood Review. Her recent poetry awards include: the Gwendolyn Brooks Award from the Society for the Study of Midwest Literature, a Ginsberg Poetry Award, and Finalist status in the Atlanta Review and Nimrod prizes. The Way-Back Room: A Memoir of a Detroit Childhood (Bottom Dog Press) is her first excursion into memoir.

Readers’ Bios – Session #9 (October 24, 2012)

16/10/12

Ah, Fall! Such a beautiful time of year in Michigan. And to celebrate, we’re thrilled to announce the fantastic lineup of readers for Session #9 on Wednesday, October 24th, at 7 PM!

Norene Cashen is a former rock music journalist. She’s currently a writer-in-residence and youth slam team coordinator with InsideOut Literary Arts in Detroit. Her poems have been published in Exquisite Corpse, markszine.com, Adanna Literary Journal, Temenos, and the anthology Abandon Automobile (Wayne State University Press). Her first poetry collection, The Reverse Is Also True, was published by Doorjamb Press in 2007.

Jeremy Schmall is the founder and co-editor of The Agriculture Reader and the author of Jeremy Schmall & the Cult of Comfort (X-ing) and Open Correspondence from the Senator, Vol. 1: But a Paucity of his Voluminous Writings (X-ing). His work has appeared in PEN America, HTMLGiant, Columbia Poetry Review, and Forklift, Ohio. He lives in Detroit.

Anca Vlasopolos has published six books: literary criticism on Coleridge, Baudelaire, and Yeats; a memoir, No Return Address: a Memoir of Displacement, awarded the National Writer’s Voice for creative non-fiction and the Board of Governors of WSU award; a historical novel, The New Bedford Samurai, also winner of the BOG of WSU award; a detective novel set in Detroit, Missing Members; two full collections of poems, Penguins in a Warming World and Walking Toward Solstice. She has published over two hundred poems and short stories in literary magazines and anthologies. She is associate editor of Corridors magazine.

 

Readers’ Bios – Session #8 (September 26, 2012)

10/09/12

We’re back! After a summer hiatus, we’re excited to be getting back in the swing of things this fall. And to celebrate, come join us on Wednesday, September 26, from 7-8 PM, for a fantastic evening of reading featuring the following talented folks:

Francine J. Harris is a Detroit native whose recent work has appeared inRattle, Callaloo, and Michigan Quarterly Review and she is the author of the recent chapbook between old trees. She is a Cave Canem fellow, has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and is currently a Zell Post-MFA Fellowship recipient at the University of Michigan.

C.J. Opperthauser is a Michigander living and teaching in Ohio. His poems have been published in Cleveland Review, Midwestern Gothic, and Controlled Burn, among others. He likes to run and fish, and blogs at http://thicketsandthings.tumblr.com.

Hope to see you there!

Readers’ Bios – Session #7 (April 25, 2012)

23/04/12

Come join us on Wednesday, April 25, from 7-8 PM, for a fantastic evening of reading featuring the following talented folks:

Ann Arbor native Samiya Bashir’s most recent book of poems, Gospel, was a finalist for both the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and along with her first collection, Where the Apple Falls, the Lambda Literary Award. Previously an editor with Ms. Magazine and Black Issues Book Review, she co-edited Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social & Political Black Literature & Art. A founding organizer of Fire & Ink, recognized as the most influential supporter and advocate for LGBT writers of African descent, Samiya holds a BA from the University of California, Berkeley, where she served as Poet Laureate, and an MFA from the University of Michigan, where she received two Hopwood Poetry Awards. She is also the recipient of the Aquarius Press Legacy Award, the Astraea Writers Award, and fellowships from Cave Canem, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley, Soul Mountain Writers Colony, The Austin Project, and the National Association of Pen Women, among others. She teaches writing at the University of Michigan.

Matt Bell is the author of Cataclysm Baby, a novella, and How They Were Found, a collection of fiction. He also serves as the editor of Dzanc Books and The Collagist.

Russell Brakefield is a musician, editor, and educator. He received his MFA in poetry from the University of Michigan, where he now teachings creative writing and composition. His most recent work appears or is forthcoming in The Michigan Quarterly Review, The New York Quarterly, Poet Lore, and Drunken Boat. He is also a member of an ongoing folk music collective called winter/sessions.

Session #6 a success!

30/03/12

We had a great time at this month’s reading. If you couldn’t make it, we hope to see you next month for Session #7 (details forthcoming on the readers…stay tuned!)

In the meanwhile, we’ve posted pics from this month’s event on our photo page, so check them out!

Readers’ Bios – Session #6 (March 28, 2012)

13/03/12

This month we’re featuring a fantastic collection of readers not to be missed (bios below). And if you haven’t yet been able to attend one of our readings, do what you can to make it this month: Mentobe Café, downtown Farmington, Michigan, starting at 7 PM. We promise you’ll have a blast!

Elizabeth Ellen‘s stories have appeared in numerous online and print journals over the last ten years, including elimae, Quick Fiction, Hobart, Lamination Colony, Mud Luscious, Sleepingfish, kill author, Pindeldyboz, and many others. She is the author of the chapbook Before You She Was a Pit Bull (Future Tense) and her collection of flash fictions, Sixteen Miles Outside of Phoenix, was included in A Peculiar Feeling of Restlessness: four chapbooks of short short fiction by four women (Rose Metal Press). Fast Machine is a collection of her best work from the last decade. Currently she lives in Ann Arbor where she co-edits Hobart and oversees Hobart’s book division, Short Flight/Long Drive books.

Kyle Minor is the author of In the Devil’s Territory, a collection of short fiction. His stories and essays appear in The Southern Review, Gulf Coast, and Plots with Guns, and in anthologies published by Random House, Houghton Mifflin, and Harper Perennial. He lives in Ohio.

Susanna Piontek was born in Bytom, Poland and immigrated to Germany in 1965. She earned an M.A. at Bochum University, specializing in language pedagogy research, history, and American studies. After working at the University of Saarbrücken for several years, she completed her education as a broadcast editor at a journalism school. While working at a radio station, she started writing short stories and poems. They have been published in book form, anthologies, and magazines in Germany, the U.S., Israel, and Albania. Since 2006 Piontek is living in the United States as a freelance writer. She is a member of the European Authors’ Association “Die Kogge” (“The Cog”, named after the vessels of the Hanseatic League) in Minden, Germany, as well as of SCALG (Society for Contemporary American Literature in German), and of P.E.N. Zentrum deutschprachiger Autoren im Ausland (P.E.N. Center for German-speaking authors in foreign countries).

Readers’ Bios – Session #5 (February 22, 2012)

06/02/12

February. The month of love. And to get you in the mood, we are excited to present our line-up of readers for Session #5 (held on February 22). (Check out their bios below!) Please note: Normally we meet the last Wednesday of each month, but with AWP coming up, we had to move it up a week.

Last month we had our best turnout yet, and we’re hoping for an even bigger one in February. Remember, 7-8 PM at Mentobe Cafe in downtown Farmington, Michigan. We’d love to see you!

Amanda Goldblatt is a writer of fiction and creative nonfiction. She has led workshops in both genres at Washington University in St. Louis and currently teaches at the University of Michigan. Her work has been published in American Short Fiction, The Collagist, Thermos, NANO Fiction, and elsewhere. Catalpa: This is Not True, a prose chapbook, was published by Cupboard in 2010. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of the online journal Super Arrow, and lives in Michigan.

Benjamin Paloff grew up in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and was educated at Harvard and at the University of Michigan, where he now teaches. He is the author of The Politics, a collection of poems, and has translated several books from Polish, including Lodgings: Selected Poems of Andrzej Sosnowski. The recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Fulbright Program, he is a poetry editor at the Boston Review.

Matthew Olzmann is a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Kenyon Review, New England Review, Inch, Gulf Coast, Rattle and elsewhere. He’s received fellowships from Kundiman and the Kresge Arts Foundation. Currently, he is a writer-in-residence for the InsideOut Litereary Arts Project and the poetry editor of The Collagist.